Aftermath
by chill81
Summary: Takes place right after the season 2 finally with my idea of how season 2 should be. What would happen to 51 if someone didn't make it out of that collapse. How would they handle it? How would they heal?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The ground rumbled and shook. He could barely see three feet in front of his face. Matt Casey rolled over coughing and rubbing the dust out of his watering eyes. "Casey? Casey!" Severide yelled at him. He grabbed the other lieutenant pulling him out from under a pile of debris. "You okay man?"

"Yeah," Matt shouted back, "Where is everyone?" He frantically looked around and took account of his men. All but Otis were back on their feet with scrapes, bruises, and baffled looks on their faces. "Otis!" Casey moved toward the still man quickly but careful not to disturb as much rubble in the weak building as possible.

He reached him as Otis let out a sharp cry. "What is it? What is it buddy?" Hermann asked worriedly pulling Otis' mask from his face.

"My-"Otis stopped his breathing quickening as he placed his hand over his chest.

"Possible broken ribs. Let's get him outta here boys." Casey ordered his men. Mouch, Cruz, Hermann and Casey lifted Otis as he screamed in pain. "Carefully guys." Casey reminded.

As they passed the shaken squad members they saw a bloody and motionless Capp. Severide was quickly ordering his men to different positions to help their injured brother. The truck guys kept moving because their priority had to be getting Otis out to the Ambos.

They made is down to the first floor and out the door as they herd the sirens approach. Chout and his partner ran up to the men with the other screaming man in their arms. They laid Otis on the gurney and Chout started to assess him. "Otis, you've got to breath. It's probably just broken ribs but we're going now." As Otis was loaded into the Ambo and driven off Boden walked up to Casey and Severide, who had passed Capp off to the other Ambulance.

"Are you guys alright?" Boden's booming voice asked somewhat shakily.

"Yeah the others are good." Severide answered and Casey just nodded in agreement.

"So Capp and Otis are the only serious injuries?" Casey asked looking between all of his dusty, shaken men. They all nodded at him and he let out a relieved breath. "Okay." Casey looked at Severide both of the men glad their crews were fine.

"Casey. Have you seen Shay or Dawson?" Boden asked quickly.

Casey felt all of the blood leave his face as he realized he hadn't seen Dawson, his world since she entered the building. All he had seen was the large mound of debris where her patient had been but he thought she must have already gotten out. "No." he whispered panic seeping into his voice.

Two other truck companies pulled up as Casey tried to go back into the building for his girl. "No," Boden ordered. "We have two paramedics and a victim trapped on the first floor."

"Chief let me go!" Casey bellowed. "That's… Dawson." He whimpered "She's still inside."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gabby Dawson woke up to the sound of cries all around her. Her head was pounding and there was a sharp pain radiating from her stomach. She could hear the frantic voices coming from the darkness. Despite the pain she was able to shift onto her knees and crawl over to Shay's still body a few feet away from me. "Shay are you okay?" she asked worried.

"Yeah. I think so." Shay sat up and brushed the dust off of her face. "Wait the victim." She moved over to him. He was crushed partially under the pile of rubble we were surrounded in. Shay stuck her fingers to his neck feeling for a pulse. "Nothing, Gabby are you alright?" she asked turning around and seeing the pained face of Gabby who was clutching her stomach.

"Yeah, just got hit in the stomach with some rubble." She let out a breath as her radio cracked to life.

"Dawson, Shay." McFarlin called over the radio. "61 please respond. Where are you guys?"

"We're trapped on the first floor. It's just me and Shay we lost the victim." Dawson reported into the radio.

"Dawson, Shay you guys okay?" Boden's voice came through the radio next. In the background she could hear the shouts of a fight.

"We're fine but are you guys?" She asked a little bit of hesitancy in her voice.

"We're fine. They're going to get you guys out." Boden said through the speaker quickly followed by the shouts, "Severide let me go now!" that belonged to Casey.

Dawson bit her tongue back at the sound of Matt's distress. "Shay Dawson call out!" a voice called through the large pile of concrete.

"We're in here!" Shay screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Get under something!" the voice yelled back and we both scurried behind a rock that was sticking out from the pile of debris. You could hear the sound of a saw starting and see sparks bouncing in from the cracks. The two terrified paramedics trembled as the vibrations from the saw caused the overhead concrete to shift and tremble as it threatened to come in at any moment.

Eventually more and more light started to come in through the cracks as they widened. Chunks of rubble were being pulled off and eventually there was a space big enough to fit through. The girls move forward coughing in the smoke as a hand reached through the gap. Dawson pushed Shay forward and she gratefully took the hand that was offered to her. Within seconds Shay disappeared through the gap and was escorted out of the building to the other waiting paramedics.

"Okay Dawson, your turn." The firefighter called and she shimmied her way through the tight gap in the pile. When she was free McFarlin kept a steadying hand on her shoulder. "You good Dawson?" he questioned examining her.

"Yeah," she breathed out a sigh of relief. She could hear her pounding heart in her ears as she tried to slow the adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Let's get out of here." She looked at the paramedic and smiled.

Dawson turned and walked toward the light coming from the door way. As she was almost to the door she felt the adrenaline start to slow as the pain in her abdomen started to quickly worsen. At the door she looked up and saw Matt struggling against Severide, Hermann and Mills. He was staring feverishly at the door and as she walked out he broke through the wall of men and ran towards her. He had tears brimming in his blue eyes as he collided with Dawson wrapping his strong arms around her and pulling her into his chest, giving her a passionate kiss.

"Oh God. I love you baby." He said, but that impact was the last straw for Dawson's fragile body. Something popped and Dawson felt her knees start to give way. A whimper escaped her lips that quickly turned into a pathetic attempt to muffle the pain in her screams. Casey's face went from relief to horror as he watched the love of his life wither in pain and collapse in his arms. Dawson curled up into a small ball and fell to the ground. Matt pulled her into him in a panic wanting to absolve all of her pain into his own body. "Gabby? Baby what is it?" he asked but she couldn't answer through the thick tears streaming down her beautiful face. "Help!" Casey screamed back at the men who were already almost to them. "Hang on baby." Casey cried as he watched helplessly as Gabby withered in pain in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

The paramedics reached Matt and Gabby in record time but it felt like an eternity for Matt. He lifted Gabby up and placer her on the stretcher. She immediately curled into a fetal position crying and holding her stomach and it broke Matt's heart into a million pieces.

As the stretcher was pulled along every bump was making Gabby cry harder. The entire crew from 51 knew something was very wrong because the tough paramedic had always been too stubborn to admit any pain.

When they reached the ambulance Matt instantly jumped inside after Gabby. "I'm going." He said. Boden just nodded, he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop Casey and he wouldn't try.

The ambulance sped away as the medic started to examine Dawson but she would hardly let him touch her. Casey felt hopeless as he looked down on her frail body because all he could do was hold her hand as she cried. The drive to Lakeshore seemed eternal because all Matt wanted was for Gabby to feel okay. When they arrived the medics pulled Gabby away as Matt struggled to keep up.

"28 year old female, severe abdominal pain and possible head injury. She was trapped in an explosion." The paramedic quickly rattled off.

"Is she allergic to any medication?" the doctor asked now looking at a pale Matt who just managed to shake his head no. "Okay lets go people." The doctor quickly whisked Gabby away and Matt was stopped by the paramedics who said he had to stay there.

In his haze Matt didn't even notice the voice calling to him. "Casey!" When he finally looked away from Gabby he saw Otis lying in the hospital bed beside him. "What the hell happened lieutenant? Was that Dawson?"

Casey took a step toward his man. "Yeah," he whispered, "I- I don't know what happened." Casey rubbed his hands over his face. "Are you okay Otis?"

"I'll live, couple broken ribs and a broken collarbone. They've given me some pretty good painkillers, but is everyone else okay?" Otis looked up at Casey worried.

"Uh. Capp got hurt pretty badly and then…" he trailed off not able to finish his sentence.

"They're great here man. They'll take care of her." Otis said attempting to comfort Casey but felt like he was failing.

"Thanks Otis. The rest of the guys will be here soon." Casey said in a soft voice. "But, I uh, need to go call Antonio."

Otis just nodded as Casey pulled out his phone and left. He quickly dialed Antonio's number and put the phone up to his ear.

"Hey man what did ya guys do this time?" Antonio answered in a joking tone.

Matt had to swallow and force himself to speak. "Antonio," Matt squeaked out and instantly the other man knew something was wrong. "Gabby got hurt."

"What? What happened?" Antonio quickly spit out.

"I don't know." Was all Matt could manage before he was interrupted.

"I'm on my way." Antonio answered before he hung up.

Matt then wondered hopelessly into the waiting room and fell into the nearest chair. He buried his head in his hands as he thought about the item burning a hole in his pocket. He pulled out the small black box and looked at the ring inside. Gabby's ring. He brought the small item up to his face and held it there as he softly cried. He knew that she would have said yes, but she didn't get to answer. He also knew that he couldn't lose her and if he did he would die too.


	4. Chapter 4

Twenty minutes later Matt was still sitting alone in the waiting room staring at the ring that is supposed to be Gabby's. He is worried out of his mind but knows he has to stay strong for her. A hand on his shoulder shakes him out of his thoughts as Kelly plops down in the seat next to him with the rest of 51 on his heels.

Matt quickly puts the ring away as the others round the corner into the waiting room. "Any news?" Boden asks.

"Otis has a few broken ribs and a broken collarbone; he'll be okay, he is over there, nothing on Dawson, and I didn't ask about Capp." Casey answered shaking his head.

"I'll go check on him." Peter Mills said quietly before walking to the nurses' station. Returning a few minutes later with a blond woman who you could tell had been crying. Antonio came rushing into the ER just at that moment too, but before any of them could speak a tall redheaded doctor walked into the room.

"Family of Gabriela Dawson." They all jumped up and Casey pushed his way to the front along with Antonio who recognized the man as the husband of his dead partner Julie Whilhide. "Miss Dawson has sustained a minor concussion, which is the good news. However, she has a ruptured appendix and a crushed liver. We are going to have to perform emergency surgery soon if she is to stand a chance to come out of this."

The crew from 51 stood there shocked and unable to speak until Casey finally said something, "Can I see her?" The doctor looked at him with apprehension. "Please" Casey begged the disparate tone in his voice obvious.

"I'm sorry immediate family only." Dr. Whilhide answered glumly.

As he started to turn and walk away Kelly piped up from behind Matt "He's her fiancé." The doctor turned and nodded okay and signaled for Casey to follow then. When he didn't move Kelly gave him a small shove so he would remember how to move his feet.

Matt was led down the sterile white hallway and the doctor stopped in front of an open door. Matt could see that there was a curtain pulled around a bed. "5 minutes." Dr. Whilhide said and then wondered off.

Matt took a shaky breath and walked up to the edge of the curtain. He could see into the room but only the edge of the bed. Realizing that he was wasting his time he pushed inside. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw Gabby. She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, a beeping monitor confirming she was alive. Besides the IV and various tubes keeping her stable she looked just like herself. She had a split lip but that could be blamed on the fact that she always chewed on her lip when she was nervous. He took a seat on the edge of her bed and pulled her hand into his lap. All Matt wanted was for Gabby to be okay, for her to open her big beautiful brown eyes and tell him she was okay, and to his surprise she did open her eyes. At first Matt didn't believe it was real but her big brown eyes were in fact looking into his blue ones. They were bloodshot from all of the crying but they were her eyes.

"Gabs," Matt croaked out a couple of tears sliding down his face which she reached up and brushed away wincing when her sore arm got too high. "Baby," Matt leaned down and carefully collected her in his arms careful not to hurt her and hugged her to his chest. "I love you," he mumbled into her hair kissing her head. "You're going to be okay alright, you have to be." He mumbled the last part so quietly it was barely audible.

"Matt," Gabby croaked and Matt pulled away to look at her, "I love you too." Matt leaned in and kissed her softly and slowly, enjoying her warmth and realizing that he could still lose her. "What happened?" She asked breaking the kiss. "I remember getting out of the building and my stomach hurting but not much after that." She innocently looked up at him and he sighed debating on if this was a good time to tell her what happened.

"You collapsed and started screaming, I could tell it was your stomach. God, I just wanted to make you feel better." His voice was shaking and Gabby laid a hand on his cheek, giving him the strength to continue. "The doctors said you have a concussion, damaged liver and a ruptured appendix. You are about to go into surgery." Gabby looked up at him terrified, "you will be okay." She pulled him back to her and buried her face into his dusty turnout gear, her body quivering in fear. "You're going to be okay." As he sat there holding her the nurses and her surgeon came to get her. "I love you Gabby." Matt kissed her and stood up.

"I love you too." She said as she released his hand and was rushed away for surgery.

Matt was exhausted as he made his way back to the waiting room. He was looking at his shoes and didn't even notice the group of teary men and the sobbing woman in front of him until he was almost in the middle of them. He looked around the group and finally looked to Boden. "What happened?"

Boden cleared his throat. "Capp was hit in the head and badly injured. He's brain dead."


	5. Chapter 5

Casey walked over to the woman who came over with Mills, she was Capp's mom. "I'm so sorry." He said putting a hand on her shoulder, he had only met her one other time but she was a sweet woman and Capp always talked about her. He turned around and left her to be comforted by Mills. Antonio stood across the room and motioned for Casey to come with him. As Casey passed Kelly he placed a hand on his shoulder, he knew how hard it was to lose a man.

Casey followed Antonio around the corner and when they were alone Antonio faced him. "How's Gabby?" He asked urgently.

"She was awake." Matt said and Antonio stared at him in utter disbelief. "She was really confused and scared, they have her on some pretty good painkillers, but she was awake." Antonio rubbed his hands over his face. "She can come out of this." Matt told Antonio trying to reassure him.

"She can, I called our parents, and they are coming back on the next flight from the Dominican." Matt nodded and Antonio stood there studying his expression. "So, you finally popped the question." Antonio said almost breaking a smile and Matt almost felt bad for having to tell him what really happened.

"Yeah, I did but she never answered." Antonio looked at Matt surprised and he shrugged. "Kelly was just trying to help me out. I'm glad he did too." Antonio nodded at Matt and they turned to go back to the others.

The two men slipped into the waiting area and sat silently against the wall. They were both silently trying to process the events of the day that started out so happy and have taken such a grim turn. Matt leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. A moment later he felt the chair next to him move as someone settled into it. "Hey, how's Dawson." Shay asked.

Matt opened his eyes and looked at the blond, her hair was a mess, her clothes dusty, and her eyes blood shot from crying. "She's in surgery right now. She was awake when I went in there, groggy but awake. She's so scared." Matt whispered putting his head in his hands wishing he could have comforted Gabby in any way.

Shay put her small hand on his shoulder. "She's strong okay. And she told me about before the call," Shay whispered with a small smile, "You have to know what she is going to say right." Shay looked at Casey with a look of hope and he allowed the tiniest smirk cross his face.

"I just wish I had a solid answer." He shook his head.

"You'll get one." Shay reassured him nodding.

"Thanks Shay." He said, grateful for her wise words. She stood up and went to sit by Kelly, who needed her more at the moment. Casey sunk back into the chair sighing. He slid his turnout coat off and laid it across his lap. He looked at the name on it. "Casey" He was proud of all he had accomplished in his life but none of that mattered if he wasn't able to say he convinced the most beautiful girl in the world to share that name with him.

Two hours had passed since Matt had last seen Gabby and he was starting to get extremely worried. He sat in the chair by Antonio as doctors, nurses, and the other firefighters from 51 came and went. Otis had been released and was now sitting across from him with his arm in a sling and a bandage on the small cut on his forehead. Capp's mother had disappeared when her husband, Capp's father, arrived. He was still on a ventilator so he wasn't dead but the doctors said that he wouldn't come out of this. Now they were just saying their goodbyes.

Antonio's wife Laura had brought Eva and Diego to the hospital when they heard Gabby was hurt. Even though Laura and Antonio were fighting, Laura still loved Gabby like her own blood sister and Antonio was upset so she was there to comfort him because he was still her legal husband and somewhere she still loved him.

Matt however was the most upset of them all. He wanted the doctor to come out of the door in front of him and tell him Gabby was okay. He wanted her to feel better and come out of the surgery in one piece.

When the door opened and Dr. Whilhide walked out Matt was instantly on his feet. "How is she? Is she okay?" Matt quickly spit out. The room was silent as everyone anticipated the answer.

"The surgery went… Well there were some difficulties."


	6. Chapter 6

"Gabriela's liver was extremely damaged and we couldn't repair it. Now we were able to remove her appendix successfully but the liver has been our biggest concern the entire time. We have been able to stop some of the bleeding but we could only do so much and she is going to need a liver transplant." The doctor stopped there and Matt went pale and felt nauseous. Antonio walked up next to him and placed a hand on Matt's shoulder.

"So what do we do?" Antonio said; he seemed to be putting on a brave front for the others there.

"Like I said, transplant but the list is long and this is an emergency." He paused and surveyed the people there. "We will do absolutely everything we can but this is a difficult situation. We are going-"

A small voice from the back of the group cut off the doctor. "What is her blood type?" The doctor stopped knowing that he couldn't release this information to any random person. "My son died today. He would want to help Dawson and he is an organ donor. His blood type is O positive. Can he help her?" Dr. Whilhide stared at her astonished. It was Capp's mother. She stood there staring down the doctors determined and not backing down.

"Yes, let me get some paperwork for a targeted donation." He rushed off to get the necessary papers to legally save Gabby's life.

Matt walked over to Capp's mother and looked her in the eyes. She was old and tired. The wrinkles on her face and the bags under her eyes held an expression of sadness. "Are you sure?" Matt asked her softly. He knew that without this vital organ his Gabby wouldn't survive but he didn't want to take advantage of Capp's death. The woman looked up at him, her eyes full of decision and determination, and shook her head yes. Matt instantly engulfed her in a hug. "Thank you." He whispered into her ear. There would be no way he could ever possibly repay her or Capp.

"There is no need." She spoke confidently as she pulled away from Matt to sign the papers allowing the doctors to save Gabby's life.

As the surgery time ticked by and one hour changed to two and two to three the members of 51 quietly moved in and out of the hospital waiting area. It was nearing 6-o-clock now most of the trips had been to the cafeteria but Matt, Shay, and Antonio stayed quiet in the small room. Kelly had brought the trio each a bottle of water and a sandwich but none of them touched their food. Shay was starting to doze on a sleeping Otis who was feeling the effects of the pain medicine. Antonio was quietly talking to Laura, this situation is horrible but it is making them talk so that may be good. Finally Matt was sitting in the end chair with his head in his hands like he had been since the doctor left.

Just then the door opened and out walked Dr. Whilhide. He cleared his throat and everyone jumped up, eager for word on Gabby's condition. "So, the operation went well. Gabriela had some recovery ahead of her and we have to wait and see if her body accepts the liver, but she is out of immediate danger. Right now she is asleep in the recovery ward." The doctor made this statement and all of the tension in the room seemed to be relieved. Everyone let out a breath and smiled at each other, realizing that the tragedy of today was not worthless, and the day could have ended worse. "I can take you to see her if you like." Whilhide said to Matt and then to Antonio, "We should limit it to one because she will most likely be confused when she wakes up." Understanding Antonio nodded and Matt was led off to see Gabby.

Once to her room, Matt didn't hesitate to walk in. Gabby was lying on the bed, she was pale and her hair was displaced. Matt walked over to her and brushed the hair back into place. Carefully Matt bent over and pressed his lips to her forehead relishing in the feeling of her warm soft skin. When he pulled back he started to examine Gabby's beautiful face. She looked so peaceful, like she was just sleeping and hadn't been fighting to stay alive.

Matt sat next to Gabby's bed and very carefully took her hand into his. He slowly moved her IV so there was less tension pulling it back. He pulled her hand up to his mouth, kissing her fingers. He had done this many times and Gabby always loved it, she said it made her feel loved. He closed his eyes and listened to the steady beeping of the heart beat monitor telling him Gabby was alive and fighting. He let his fingers drift down to the spot on her wrist, just beneath her thumb as he felt her heart beat for himself. He had felt the same beating many times before, but this small pulsating movement meant so much more to him.

Casey stayed by Dawson's side for the next hour before he went to update the others. Everyone looked at him eagerly hoping for good news. "She's still asleep and stable; you guys can take turns going to see her." Antonio nodded and left, making it clear that he was going to be the one to see Dawson next and there wasn't going to be any arguing. "You guys should go home. She will probably be asleep for at least a few more hours." Casey looked around the room at all of the men who were now joined by some other faces like Donna, Christi, and most of the intelligence team from the 21st district.

Boden faced his men, "Casey's right, we should go home." Then he looked at Casey, "Call us if anything changes, we'll be back in the morning." Boden gave Casey a pat on the shoulder as he turned to leave along with the others.

Casey cleared his throat, "Chief, congrats." He nodded. "And thanks guys." The clan from 51 walked out of the hospital and so did the intelligence unit. All that was left were Laura, the kids, and Christi. Matt walked over to Christi and gave her a hug, "What are you doing here?"

"Connie from 51 called me, I guess I'm your emergency contact and she told me you might need some moral support." Christi told him.

"Thanks Christi, but go ahead and get home to Violet, I'll be okay." Christi gave Matt another hug before walking out to her car. Antonio came back down the hall now and stood behind Eva and Diego.

"It's getting late, we should get home. And besides, Gabby will want to see your face when she wakes up so get in there, just call me the minute anything changes." Antonio reached out and shook Matt's hand.

"Yeah of course." Matt told him as they parted ways and Matt walked back down the hallway. Casey reclaimed his spot next to Dawson and took her hand again. He ran his thumb over her knuckles as he started his wait. He was determined that he wasn't going to leave this spot until Gabby woke up.

As the hours ticked by Casey's eyes started to grow heavy and he laid his head down next to Gabby's hand. He kissed her hand again before he couldn't fight sleep anymore and his eyelid's slid shut into a fitful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

A soft and persistent beep kept chirping in her ear preventing her from falling back asleep. Her entire body was aching and her limbs felt like they had weights on them. All of the memories of the day came flooding back to her and Dawson opened her eyes. She was in a plain white hospital room and the second her eyes opened she was searching for Matt. Her eyes landed on his slumped form, Matt's head was resting on the bed next to her hand while the rest of his body was slumped in the chair and he was lightly snoring. Gabby lightly ran her fingers through his dirty blond hair and he instantly shot up like he had never been asleep.

The biggest smile came to Matt's face; he pulled himself up and planted the biggest kiss on Gabby's mouth. Gabby giggled and enjoyed the warm and sweet taste of Matt's lips. Matt kissed her like he had never kissed anyone before, and only pulled back when lack of air became an issue. Matt sat in front of Gabby beholding in her beauty as relief washed over him. "Hi." Gabby croaked, her voice was sore from the ventilator in surgery.

"Hi" Matt chuckled back. "How do you feel?" Matt stood beside her bed and brushed his hand through her hair and she leaned her head into his hand.

"I'm okay." She sighed. "Just sore. What happened in surgery?" Gabby looked up at Matt innocently but he didn't want to tell her because he knew he wouldn't be able to explain it to her correctly.

"You're okay. Let me get the doctor, he knows more than I do." Matt gave Gabby's hand another squeeze before leaving the room in search of the doctor. He was walking down the hall toward the nurses station when he texted Antonio. It was 12:30 so he said she was awake but will still be here in the morning so he may as well get some sleep. He tucked his phone away as he got to the nurses station, "My girlfriend, Gabriela Dawson, is awake." Matt said allowing himself to grin happy Dawson is in good of condition she is in.

"Okay, let me grab the doctor." She stepped away and Matt started back to the room and by the time he got back they were only a few steps behind.

"Gabriela, nice to see you awake, how are you feeling?" the doctor asked.

"I'm just a little sore, no major pain, and tired." The doctor nodded while reading Gabby's chart.

"Yeah you will be sore for a few days and the tiredness is just the anesthesia still wearing off. So what we did was we removed your appendix, which you don't need, and your liver was crushed and severely damaged so we had to transplant a liver." He paused to let this news sink in. "The operation went extremely well and you were lucky because we found a donor quickly. Do you have any questions?"

"No, I don't think so." Dawson said calmly. She seemed to be taking this very well.

"Okay, let me know if you think of anything and get some rest." He smiled and turned to leave.

"Wait how long will I be in the hospital?" Dawson asked.

"At least a week." He told her and then he left.

The nurse stayed for a minute to check Gabby's vitals before leaving. "Hey, how are you doing?" Matt asked rubbing his thumb absent mindedly over her knuckles. "That's kind of a lot to digest."

"Yeah," She sighed. "It could have been worse though. At least they found a donor." She ran her other hand through Matt's hair. "So how are the others?"

Matt let out a long sigh. "Otis has a broken collarbone and broken ribs, he is at home. But uh, Cap, he didn't make it." Matt wrapped his hand around Gabby's as he let her digest the news. She nodded and let out a small oh. Matt decided to be honest and tell Gabby the truth. "That's not all. He was the organ donor."

She looked at Matt shocked. "Seriously?" she asked slowly. Matt just nodded his head. "Wow, he saved my life."

"I'm sure he would be proud to make one final save, especially you." She nodded and Matt pulled her into a hug. She winced, "I'm sorry baby, I wasn't thinking." He started to let go when she gripped onto his shirt.

"No, will you lay by me?"

"Of course." Matt started to get in the bed but stopped and took off his turnout pants and boots; he hadn't changed out of yet, and climbed in beside Gabby. She positioned herself under his arm and snuggled in close. "This feel okay?" Matt asked worried.

"Perfect," Gabby said snuggling in closer, "You're so warm." She whispered and he just laughed and kissed her head.

"I love you Gabby." Matt said pulling her small body as close as it would get to his. "I… I don't know what I would have done if I lost you." His voice shook as he buried his face in Dawson's hair. "I just… I-"

"Shh." She hushed him, "I'm okay. You don't have to think about that." She grabbed a piece of Matt's shirt and pulled herself part way on top of him. She looked up into his worry filled eyes. "I love you too, Matt." She whispered. Then Matt put his hands on Gabby's waist and pulled her lips to his and kissed her, enjoying every single second and only breaking the kiss when they needed air. "So, when am I going to get that ring?" Gabby asked poking at Matt's side.

"Oh you never answered now you have to wait. I have to do it right so you have to promise me you'll stick around to get it." Matt teased.

"Okay, I guess I'll wait but only because you're such a good pillow." She snuggled into his chest and he sighed. Moments later he could hear her soft snoring as he fell asleep himself.


	8. Chapter 8

Gabby opened her eyes to see the bright morning light shining through her window. She turned her head a groaned into the pillow which she thought was Matt's side. When she realized he was gone she opened her eyes against the light and saw Matt coming out of the bathroom in fresh clothes and damp hair. "Morning," he smiled as he walked over and kissed her.

"Morning," she greeted back. "Where did you go?" she asked sleepily.

"Nowhere, Kelly brought me some clothes this morning." He sat down on the edge of her bed and rested his hand in Dawson's hair. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good." She smiled at him.

"Okay," Matt paused. "Are you up for some visitors? Everyone from 51 is here along with Antonio, Laura and the kids."

"Yeah, I'd love to see them." Gabby smiled as Matt left.

Out in the waiting room everyone was sitting around talking in hushed voices and drinking coffee. When they saw Matt they all quieted down and Antonio stood up. "How's Gabby?" he asked.

"She's awake, she has a lot of recovery but as of right now she's good." Matt smiled and the group let out a collective sigh of relief. "You guys can go see her a few at a time." Antonio walked down the hallway with Laura and the kids first. Kelly walked over to Matt and put a hand on his shoulder smiling.

"So, she's going to be okay." Kelly smiled at Matt.

Matt sighed and smiled back at Kelly. "Yeah she is, thank God." Shay walked over to Matt and gave him a hug.

"So, do you know what I am going to ask?" Confused, Matt just shook his head no. "Did you ask her again?!" Shay asked excitement filling her features.

Matt grinned almost fearing the possible wrath of Leslie Shay. "No, I'm going to wait a little longer and really plan something memorable." He said and watched carefully ready to dodge Shay's impatient outburst.

"I guess that's a good idea. She is going to get impatient of you wait to long."

"Yeah okay, well you're going to have to help me with some planning." Matt sat down in a chair and Shay plopped down beside him.

"Well we have time now." Shay suggested.

"Yeah we do. What do you got Shay?" Matt laughed.

Antonio walked into Gabby's hospital room and smiled at his sister. She looked a little tired but she looked okay. "Hey sis how ya feeling?" Antonio asked before he kissed her head and she smiled at him.

"Oh ya know, I've got a pretty cool war wound but I'll survive." She laughed returning his usual banter.

"Aunt Gabby!" Eva and Diego cheered moving around Antonio.

"Hey kiddos." Gabby laughed pulling them each close enough to give them each a kiss their cheek. "Hi Laura." Gabby greeted the other woman, eyeing Antonio who just shrugged.

"Hi Gabby how are you feeling?" Laura asked her.

"Just a little sore. Trust me I'm breaking out of here as soon as I can." They all chuckled, seeing Gabby was in high spirits.

Antonio gave her his usual protective brotherly look. "You've got to take care of yourself Gabs. You can't slack on your health." He warned worriedly.

"Oh hush Tony. I'll take care of myself. If I didn't I would just be lying in bed longer and not back to work." Gabby said and Antonio just rolled his eyes knowing that Gabby is to determine to stay in bed for the next month, but it made him feel better knowing that Matt would make sure she followed the doctor's orders.

"Okay, I'll come see you tomorrow but we better leave before Shay gets impatient and comes to kick me out." Gabby laughed and after they said their goodbyes they left. Minutes later Shay came bursting into Gabby's room. 

"Hey girlie how are you doing?" Shay asked walking in and giving Gabby a hug.

"I'm okay. How are you?" Gabby asked Shay.

"I'm perfectly fine." Shay laughed. "You really scared me girl." She said quietly. Gabby started to open her mouth but Shay stopped her. "Just don't do it again okay."

Dawson laughed and agreed to Shay's request. "If only that call had never come in." She sighed, "Now I have to wait even longer for Matt to propose." Gabby laid her head back in frustration.

Shay chuckled and put her hand on Gabby's arm, "Don't worry I'll make sure he does something good, it'll be worth the wait." Gabby laughed and said thanks. "Do you need anything?" Shay asked trying to be helpful.

"Could you maybe go get me some clothes from the apartment?" Gabby asked sheepishly.

"Of course, what do you need?"

"Get like a t-shirt and sweats please. Actually take some of Matt's they're looser and smell good." Gabby and Shay both laughed. "My keys are in my locker at 51."

"Okay I'll get them on the way. I'll be back in a little while." Shay said as she left.

"Thanks Shay." Gabby said. Over the next hour the rest of 51 took turns going into see Gabby. They laughed a lot and made her promise to get better soon and take care of herself, which she agreed to. While they kept Gabby company Matt was able to get some breakfast and think about the events of the past 24 hours. When the others had gone home he went back into Gabby's room and he could tell she was happy to see her.

"Hey baby." He smiled and gave her a deep kiss. Shay had brought her a change of clothes and her phone charger a little while ago and they were sitting on the table against the wall. "Do you want to put on the clothes Shay brought you?" Matt asked trying to be helpful.

"Yeah sure. Can you help me?" She asked somewhat ashamed that she needed help putting on clothes.

"Of course. You'll never catch me saying no to that request." Matt smiled coyly and Gabby laughed, the shame leaving her mind. He grabbed the clothes from the table and helped Gabby out of the hospital gown. She had a long pink incision running from the left side of her bellybutton all the way to the bottom of her ribcage and then turning to run under her ribs. Matt's breath caught in his throat as he realized how bad she is really hurt. When Gabby tried to cover the stiches he stopped her and kissed her stomach just beside the incision, not wanting to touch the tender spot. "Just as beautiful as I remember." He smiled and then helped her into the grey sweats and Truck 81 t-shirt. "Damn," he chuckled. "I wish I looked as good in my clothes as you do." Gabby giggled and pulled Matt into bed beside her.

"I love you Matt" she whispered.

"I love you too Gabby." He answered as they snuggled in for a day in the hospital.


	9. Chapter 9

The next week went by slowly, Gabby spent all her time in the hospital and Matt was constantly by her side, except on days when he had shift. On her tenth day in the hospital, the doctor came in grinning that morning. Gabby was in her room with a tired Matt who was telling her how his shift had been.

The doctor came in with Gabby's chart and cleared his throat. "I know you are eager to get home, so I have some good news. We are going to allow you to leave because of the fact that you are paramedic certified and Matt is EMT certified." Gabby was thrilled to hear this news and she gave Matt a big hug before the doctor opened his mouth again. "However," he continued, "you have to take it easy, no lifting more than 20 pounds and definitely cannot work until you get the clear from me. You have been healing well and we don't want to jeopardize that. Now with that said, here are your discharge papers." The doctor handed the papers to Gabby and she quickly filled them out. "Okay, I want to see you back in a week. Take care of yourself."

"I will" Gabby assured him. With that he left and Matt helped Gabby quickly gather her things and he lead her out to his truck and helped her inside.

"Are you excited?" He asked and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah lets go." Gabby cheered as Matt started the truck.

"Okay, I'm going." He matched her smile.

When they got home Gabby flopped down on the couch and sighed. "Ah, just like I remember it." Matt laughed as she pulled him down on top of her and he was careful to put absolutely no pressure on her stomach. Gabby snaked her hands around Matt's neck and pulled him into a long kiss. Matt put his arm under Gabby's head and slowly moved the other one to her side and grabbed her hip right where he knew she was most ticklish. She let out a loud laugh and wiggled under him. "Ah, Matt stop!" Gabby laughed and he stopped because he didn't want to risk hurting her. He gave her one long kiss before getting up off her.

"Are you hungry?" He asked chuckling.

"Yeah, I want to cook though." Gabby said jumping up off the couch and walking past Matt into the kitchen. As Gabby got the ingredients Matt stood in the doorway admiring her beauty.

"I forgot to tell you, Capp's funeral is tomorrow." He said quietly and Gabby stopped moving. "It's at 11 and Hermann invited everyone to Molly's afterward." Then Matt got quiet and waited for Gabby to speak.

"I just forget and when I remember I feel so guilty that I am here and having fun and he's not." She said, her back was to Matt and he could tell she was crying by the sound of her voice.

"Hey." He walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "I didn't want anyone to die but honestly Gabby… I can't lose you… ever." Matt whispered into her ear, his own voice full of emotion. "As selfish as that is, it's the truth. I love you." He kissed her hair and Gabby started crying into his chest, finally releasing all of the emotions she had been holding in for the past week.

The next day Matt was sitting in the bedroom putting on the tie of his dress uniform when Gabby came out of the bathroom. She looked beautiful in her dress uniform but Matt was wishing that they didn't have to go say goodbye to Capp.

Matt drove them to the funeral home and they met Severide, Shay, and Boden outside. In front of the funeral home were Squad 3, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, and Truck 81, whose aerial was half raised with an American flag hanging off of it.

Dawson gave Shay a hug and they gathered together beside the Squad. "I can't go in there." Kelly whispered. "This is my fault."

Shay put a hand on his shoulder. "This is no one's fault. Just a tragedy, but he was doing his job, and we work a dangerous job." Boden said to Kelly.

Kelly nodded and the five all in their dress uniforms entered the funeral home to say goodbye.

Kelly was the first to speak from 51. "Capp, he was a brave man which I can say for sure. He was also supportive, smart, and very funny." Kelly laughed to himself. "One time, when Molly's was about to get taken by the bank, Capp got the idea to fill the toilets with cement. Then they didn't lose Molly's and man Hermann's face was priceless." Kelly said laughing through his tears. Then he looked at the black rose covered casket and was barely able to get out, "There will always be a spot for you on squad man." Kelly put his hand on Capp's casket and then walked back to his spot by Shay.

Many others spoke about Capp's life, telling funny stories and saying how honorable he was. When Matt looked over at Gabby he saw tears rolling down her cheeks. He reached out and took her hand into his.

After the funeral everyone from 51 met at Molly's for drinks. Dawson was helping Hermann, who was drinking himself, behind the bar because she still couldn't drink. It was quiet in the bar and the only sound was hushed whispers. Hermann finally got everyone's attention. "To Capp, we'll miss you pal." Hermann said before downing his drink and everyone else following suit.

It was 5-o-clock by the time Molly's started to clear out. Dawson offered to stay and clean so Hermann could go home. After Matt got a drunk and depressed Kelly into a cab he started to help Dawson clean in silence.

When they were finished they locked up and left. On the drive home Matt notice that Gabby had fallen asleep so he turned the radio down so it wouldn't bother her. When he pulled up in front of his apartment he tried to wake her up and when she wouldn't wake up he went around and opened her door. "Gabby, baby you gotta wake up we're home."

"No." Gabby mumbled. Matt tried to wake her up once more unsuccessfully. "Carry me." She said. She was kidding and her eyes flew open in surprise when Matt lifted her from the truck. "I was kidding!" she shrieked as she locked her arms around his neck and held on. When they reached the door he unlocked it and carried her all the way to the bed room where he placed her gently on the bed. He took her boots off and covered her up. He sat on his side of the bed and took off his shoes.

All of a sudden a pair of arms pulled him back and shoved him against the headboard. Gabby swung one leg over his lap and pulled his mouth to hers. She opened her mouth and he instantly responded but before they could go too far he stopped himself. "I don't think the doctor would approve." Matt warned.

"I don't think I care. I know what my body can handle." She replied pressing herself into him once more.

"Gabby I don't want to hurt you." He pleaded.

"You won't and I promise I'll tell you if you do." Matt was worried but he knew that Gabby felt his involuntary reaction and wouldn't want to stop, and honestly he didn't want to stop either.

"Okay. I love you." Matt whispered as he flipped Gabby over and took her shirt off. He kissed down her chest paying special attention to her scar. The two of them continued long into the night as Matt let Gabby set the pace.


	10. Chapter 10

A few days later Gabby walked through the doors of firehouse 51. She made her way into the common room and as she got closer she could hear the raised voices in the middle of a heated debate. "Hey look who it is!" Mouch called out from a chair at the long table. Everyone else called out greetings except Shay and Otis who were cheering on the couch.

Dawson looked over at the two confused and then to Mouch. "I can't believe they kicked you out of your spot." She said shocked.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not getting in the middle of THAT." Mouch said pointing at the two on the couch. That was when Dawson noticed what Shay and Otis were watching. On the TV there was an overhead shot of Bush Stadium in St. Louis Missouri. Shay, who was from St. Louis, is a huge Cardinals fan and Otis is a huge Cubs fan. Right now the two teams are playing each other and they are bitter rivals. It was the bottom of the 8th and Otis let out a cheer when the Cubs got the third out and Shay just rolled her eyes.

"Otis do you really think they are going to be able to score 8 runs in one inning. The score is 7-0 for crying out loud!" Shay was right too. The Cardinals won and Otis sat down and started to pout when the first three batters all struck out. Shay cheered and started to tease Otis.

"Otis you had to know they didn't stand a chance right." Dawson grinned playing along. Shay spun around and came out of her baseball trance realizing that her best friend was here.

"Hey girl! How are you doing?" Shay asked going over and hugging Gabby.

"I'm great. I want to get back already but other than that I'm great." Dawson smiled and laughed as Mouch slid past Shay to reclaim his spot on the couch.

"I cannot wait for you to come back already but you're going to leave me and go kick some ass at Austin." Shay said holding a fake pout and then laughing by the end of her sentence.

"Yeah I am but I promise to come visit." Dawson said. "And you can always come see me at Molly's." she teased.

"Oh I will." Shay laughed.

"Hey is Casey in his office?" Dawson asked and Shay shook her head yes. Gabby left the room. She reached his door and saw him through the window he was sitting at his desk humming with a smile on his face, a pencil moving across the paper in front of him. Gabby opened the door and he turned around, discreetly covering the paper he was working on.

"Hey baby." He said grinning at her when he saw her. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close as she bent over and gave him a kiss.

"How has your shift been?" She smiled and ran her hand through his blond hair and down the side of his face.

"Good, we've only had a few calls. It's better now that you're here." Matt grinned at her playfully and pulled her down into his lap so her legs were on either side of Matt's.

"You're in a good mood." She giggled as she gave him another kiss. When she started to pull back he grabbed the side of her face and pulled her in deeper. When they finally separated from the kiss Gabby laughed and laid her head on the bend of his neck. When she sat up and looked into Matt's eyes she saw they were sparkling with love and happiness. "What's gotten into you?" She chuckled returning his grin.

"I just love you so much." He said shaking his head. Gabby smiled wide and leaned in for another kiss. Then Gabby yelped as Matt stood up and wrapped her legs around his waist and walked to the door he clicked the lock shut and slid down the blinds.

"What are you doing?!" She whispered laughter in her voice. Matt didn't respond except by kissing her neck and dropping her gently onto the bed. Gabby giggled and pulled his shirt out of his waist band and quickly threw it to the floor. Matt returned the favor and slowly took off Gabby's shirt teasing her skin with the occasional brush of his calloused fingers against her side.

She shivered and Matt chuckled, "I'm going to miss you being here." Gabby rolled her eyes and brought his lips to hers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Outside in the common room Shay had calmed down from the excitement of the game she was sitting in the corner at the table on her laptop researching something she had made a promise to do. When she clicked on one link she had to keep herself from reacting because this had to be kept top secret. Shay grinned and saved the link, she had to be sure to show Matt later.

Next she clicked on the other tab and started to browse through wedding decorations she thought Gabby would like. She had lots of things marked and Matt hadn't even gotten an answer yet but she couldn't help herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later Gabby was lying under Matt as he softly kissed her cheeks and neck. It felt good to be physical but it felt even better to just know that she was loved. She sighed and turned her head so their lips would meet. When Gabby opened her eyes she was met by Matt's happy blue ones. "I love you Gabs." He whispered softly. The soft light was filtering in through the windows and casting a soft shadow through the sheets.

"I love you too." She whispered, barely audible but she knew Matt understood. He smiled and softly kissed her lips. "So can I ask you a question?" She asked playfully while drawing patterns on his soft chest with her fingers.

"Anything." He replied, his eyes full of complete confidence that he could and would tell Gabby anything.

"Are you going to ask me to marry you again?" she softly asked while studying his eyes.

Matt smirked, "My girl always so persistent." He was stalling. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see." He smiled and kissed her nose.

Gabby half frowned, "You know the answer is yes right. It always will be."

"I know," he kissed her, "but I want to make it special, something you will remember when we are old and senile together and start to forget things. Then ALL of our kids will have to remind us, but we will remember getting engaged. It has to be that special." Matt smiled exaggerating the all.

"I guess that's okay." She sighed with a smile. Then she playfully looked up at him, "You want kids?"

"Of course." He answered not missing a beat. "Do you?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "Like 3 maybe 4. What do you think?"

Matt grinned, "Whatever makes you happy."

"Good answer to your future wife. Because, and this is a promise, if you take too long I will ask you." She laughed.

"Oh that is not going to happen." He laughed and then gave her a kiss.

Just then the bell went off. "_Squad 3, Truck 81, Ambulance 61, car accident corner of Damien and Adams."_

Matt jumped out of bed and threw the rest of his clothes on. Then he moves to his desk and grabbed his phone and the paper he had been hiding from Gabby and stuffed them in his pockets. Gabby got up and slipped her shirt on. "Be safe." She told Matt quickly.

He walked back over to her and gave her a final peck on the lips. "Always." He said before running out the door.


	11. Chapter 11

It was one month post collapse and the doctors had just Gabby for light duties on an ambulance. Dawson was going to have to spend the next few weeks back on 61 until the doctors cleared for the physical demands of being a firefighter. The morning of her first shift back Gabby was wide awake as soon as the alarm went off. She leaned over Matt and shut off the alarm, as she moved back she placed a kiss on his lips and even though his eyes were closed he kissed her back. Sleepily he wrapped his warm arms around Gabby and pulled her into his chest. "You ready to get back?" he asked.

"Yes." She grinned. "Come on get up." She tried to pull Matt into a sitting position but he wouldn't budge. When she got an idea Gabby casually hopped out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. "Fine I guess I'll just shower alone." She sighed tempting Matt, whose ears perked up at the request.

"Oh don't worry I'm on my way." He laughed chasing Gabby into the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they got to the firehouse Gabby changed quickly and headed out to the Ambulance with Shay. She opened the back door and took her spot on the bench. "Ah, all is right with the world."

Shay laughed at her best friend, "Oh yeah, you couldn't have possibly missed THIS." Shay gestured at the Ambo and threw a box of gauze bandages at her which she quickly snagged out of the air.

"Oh trust me, I did." Gabby laughed.

Shay smiled then looked up at her. "You know what; let's have a girl's night to celebrate." Shay said excitedly. "Come on you and me tomorrow night, we'll go party it up."

Gabby laughed. "Okay deal!" The two girls enjoyed a laugh together when the bell rang calling everyone away to a fire.

"You think you can still hack it?" Shay teased and Dawson just looked at her as if she was insulted by this remark.

"Bitch please." Dawson laughed as Shay flipped the lights and they headed out to Dawson's first call back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once they arrived on scene they saw a four story building fully engulfed in flames. "Truck 81 search the first two floors, Squad you guys take 3 and 4." Boden ordered.

"Mouch, Cruz on the roof, Hermann, Otis first floor." Casey called.

"Mills, Newhouse third floor, Tony, Iven forth." Kelly ordered to his men including Iven the newest member of the squad. "I'll go with Casey and take two." All of the firefighters ran into the flaming building as Cruz raised the areal to the roof.

Minutes passed before people started to come out. Most of the rescued people were fine and the girls were just giving them oxygen. Then Casey came out of the building with an unconscious woman in his arms. "Dawson." He called, "She's badly burned, not responsive." He put her down on the gurney and Gabby instantly put oxygen on her and grabbed the intubation kit. "Welcome back." Matt said as he went back to search for more people.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they arrived back at the firehouse after the call Matt found Gabby sitting at the table in the common room. He sat down next to her with his laptop and angled it for her to see but left it mostly closed for the moment. "Okay, so I've been thinking and so, what do you think about this." Matt opened up his laptop to reveal a cute house. "Now this is a four bedroom, three bathrooms, 3,600 square foot house about 15 minutes from here and 10 minutes from Molly's. Plus it actually has a fenced backyard"

Gabby gazed at it longingly, "I love it but there is no way we can afford this."

"No that's the best part, it is an unfinished foreclosure so it's only listed at $170,000 and I can do the work." He looked at her hopefully, "We can afford this, so what do you think?"

"I absolutely love it. We should definitely go look at it." She smiled as she scrolled through more pictures of the property. The most finished room was the Master bathroom; it had a giant whirlpool tub and a freestanding waterfall shower along with a beautiful two sink vanity. Gabby stopped on the picture admiring it, "This is beautiful," Gabby sighed in admiration.

"I bet we could have a lot of fun in that bathroom." Matt leaned in close and whispered in her ear. Gabby blushed and bowed her head as Matt smirked and walked away.

Gabby closed the laptop and got up and wondered into the kitchen. She grabbed a bag of pretzels and sat down on the couch beside Mouch. Pouch crawled up between them and lay against Gabby's hip.

"Hey girl did you miss me?" Gabby rubbed the dogs back and slipped her a pretzel. The dog gratefully accepted the offering and put her head on Gabby's leg and looked up at her sweetly. "Yeah, I missed you too." Gabby rubbed her hands over the dogs face as she thumped her tail and caused Mouch to spill his drink on himself.

"Oh thanks Pouch," Mouch grumbled and got up to get a towel.

A few hours later it was almost 10:30 and Gabby was starting to get a headache so she went to her locker and got some aspirin. On her way to her bed to lie down she saw Matt going into the bathroom. "Hey, you okay?" He asked grabbing her arm in concern.

"Yeah, it's just a headache; I told Shay we could go out for a welcome back girl's night tomorrow night so I want to knock this out." She gave Matt a small smile and turned away again.

"Okay," he said worriedly. "If you need anything." Gabby nodded and found her way to her bed.

She got a few solid hours of sleep before the next call just before 2 am. When the bell went off Gabby dutifully went out to the Ambulance quickly rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her headache had mostly gone away as she pulled herself into her seat. Shay started the Ambulance and they headed out.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning when Gabby and Matt got home from shift all they wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep until the next shift. The night had gotten busy around 2am. There was very little down time and right at the end of shift they got a call to a fire. Gabby fell into bed, still in her clothes and Matt went to take a shower to rinse the black soot off his body. Once he was clean he crawled into bed behind Gabby and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body into his.

"I don't think you could possibly realize how sexy you smell right now." Gabby whispered. Matt laughed and buried his face into her hair. "Seriously, smoke and your soap plus just you." Gabby rolled over to face Matt. She buried her face in his chest and breathed in the smell she loved so much. She felt safe sandwiched between Matt's strong, warm arms. Their legs were intertwined and Matt kissed Gabby's head and they fell asleep twisted together.

Later when Gabby woke up Matt was stroking her hair and still had her pressed into his chest. "Morning beautiful." He whispered when she started to wiggle and stretch in his arms.

"What time is it?" She mumbled into Matt's chest.

"Almost 11." He said releasing his grip on Gabby so she could turn over. She picked up her phone and sent a text to Shay asking her when she wanted to meet. "I have a construction job today starting at 1. It shouldn't take too long."

"Okay, I guess I'll do a little house work until I meet up with Shay." Dawson rolled to the edge of the bed and rubbed her eyes. "You hungry?" She asked Matt.

"Sure, let me help you." He said getting out of bed. They walked into the kitchen and Gabby opened the fridge. Matt peered over her shoulder "You pick something."

"Do you want a BLT?" Gabby asked knowing that was Matt's favorite sandwich.

"Sure." He replied, and Gabby started to grab ingredients. She took the vegetables and started to slice the tomatoes. After a few minutes of cooking Gabby started to feel sick to her stomach. She put down the knife and went to the bathroom. After a few minutes of deep breaths Gabby felt better. She went back into the kitchen where Matt was putting the sandwiches on plates. "You okay?" He asked, "You seem a little pale."

"I'm fine, I might just be coming down with a bug." She sat down and ate her sandwich slowly. At 12:30 Matt left for his job and Gabby got ready to meet Shay at 3. Shay got to Dawson and Casey's house at 2:45 full of excitement.

"Are you ready to celebrate?" Shay laughed.

"Yeah, what do you feel like doing?" Dawson asked.

"Dinner and Molly's?"

"Yeah sounds good." Dawson smiled as the two left.

After a nice dinner filled with laughs, the two girls moved to Molly's. They were sitting at the bar and Hermann handed each of them a beer. They laughed a lot and celebrated Dawson's first day back on the job. They each had only had a few beers when Shay told Gabby she was leaving. Gabby rolled her eyes as she watched Shay walk out with a redhead. As she started to leave Hermann stopped her.

"This came for you in the mail." He handed an envelope to Gabby. All that was on it was her name, Molly's address and a stamp. Puzzled Dawson opened the letter. Inside there was a folded piece of paper. When Gabby opened it she realized all it said was an address and '_meet me here_' with a heart behind it. The hand writing looked like Matt's. After the letter, the envelope wasn't empty. There was a single key.

"Thanks Hermann." Dawson mumbled. Since she rode here with Shay she went outside and hailed a cab and gave him the address on the paper.

Back inside Molly's Hermann pulled his phone out of his pocket and called the number he was told to call. "Dawson just left." He said and seconds later he hung up and continued on with his evening, still questioning what was happening.

No more than 10 minutes later Gabby pulled up outside a dark house. She got out of the cab and paid the driver. As she walked up to the house she saw a for sale sign in the yard, it was the house Matt showed her yesterday. There was no light on outside and Gabby tried the knob. It was locked so she slid the key into the lock and opened the door. Gabby slowly walked into the house and looked around.

"Hello?" she nervously called out as she walked further into the house. As she rounded the corner she stumbled upon Matt. He was standing in the middle of the living room in a blue button down and a pair of jeans. "What are we doing here?" Gabby laughed as she stumbled forward and met Matt in the middle of the room where she gave him a hug. "Is this the house you showed me?"

"Yeah." He grinned at her. "What do you think?" He looked over at her hopefully.

"It's beautiful. We could make it our home." She smiled and looked around, her eyes finally landing on Matt. There was a soft glow of shadows cast over Matt's face from a group of candles sitting against the wall.

Matt saw Gabby glance at the candles and he cleared his throat. "The power isn't on." He smiled at her, "But I'll fix that. So, there is something I need to tell you." He stuttered.

"What is it?" She looked over at him.

"I put in an offer on this house." He held his breath and looked at her hopefully as he held his breath.

Gabby looked over at him stunned as a giant smile crept over her face. "Really?!" She looked up at his shocked and he nodded quickly. "I love it! Thank you!" Gabby threw her arms around Matt's neck. He pulled her in tight and sighed relieved that she liked his first surprise.

"Do you want to go look around?" He offered.

"Of course." She smiled excitedly. Matt led her around the house and ended upstairs at the closed door of the master bedroom. He let Gabby go in first as he shoved his hand in his pocket to try and hide the shaking. "Oh my god." Gabby gasped, the room was lit up with candles and moonlight was pouring in through the windows. You could forget you were in the city. Gabby covered her mouth as her eyes fell over a collage of pictures on the wall in a big black frame. Gabby found her way over to it and looked over all of the pictures; she saw almost every picture she and Matt had ever taken. She saw the picture they took in her kitchen, in front of Molly's front door and so many more. "Baby," Gabby looked over at him and he took her hands.

"Gabby," Matt sighed and tried to keep his hands from shaking. "We have been through some hard times but I have been able to depend on you for so long, even before I was lucky enough to call you my own. I love you with all of my heart and will follow you anywhere. I can't wait to start something in this house. I'm sorry the first time I did this it didn't work out but I love you and I'll do this as many times as I need to." Gabby was crying and Matt's hands were trembling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box that he has had for almost two months. He knelt down on one knee and held the ring up to Gabby. "Gabriela Dawson, will you marry me."

"Yes!" Gabby cried, happy tears streaming down her face. Matt stood up and pulled her into a long and passionate kiss. When they broke apart Matt shakily put the ring on Gabby's finger and kissed her again. The ring was a perfect fit and looked beautiful on her hand. "I love you." She sighed hugging him. "Let's go home." Gabby sighed and took his hand.

"Anything you want." He sighed in her ear and kissing her temple. "I love you." Matt led her out to his truck, blowing candles out on the way.

Once they got home Matt and Gabby passionately proved their love for each other long into the night.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning Gabby woke up to the sun streaming through the windows. She was twisted up in the sheets and she reached over and pulled herself into Matt's exposed body that matched her own. He stirred and put his arm around her shoulder pulling her into his chest. "You know I had the craziest dream last night." Dawson smiled.

"Oh yeah, what was that?" Casey asked with a smirk as he played along.

"Yeah, some crazy guy proposed to me." She smiled. "And then I had this beautiful thing this morning." She put her hand on Matt's bare chest and admired the beautiful engagement ring Matt had given her.

"Wow that's crazy I had this dream I proposed to the world's most spectacular woman and she actually said yes to my crazy self." He smiled and Gabby stretched up to plant a kiss on his pink lips.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She smiled and Matt squeezed her as the happiness radiated from both of them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next shift Gabby was sitting on the bench in front of her locker. She had taken two aspirin for a headache and closed her eyes because the room was slightly spinning. Just then Shay ran into the locker room and perched herself on the bench next to Gabby. "So…" She prompted.

"So," Dawson teased smiling. Shay gave her an exasperated look and Dawson chuckled. "Casey proposed to me." She said in a hushed voice.

"And…" Shay pushed her for more details.

"I said yes!" Gabby whispered, no longer able to contain her excitement as she held up her hand to show off the ring.

"Ahh!" Shay squealed, giving Gabby a hug. "I'm so happy for you guys." Shay smiled.

"Thanks, we're keeping it quiet until I leave but then we'll spill." She grinned. "You'll be my maid of honor right?" Dawson asked and Shay grinned widely.

"I'd be honored!" She laughed and gave Gabby a hug. Just then Otis walked into the locker room so the two girls broke apart and acted normal. Shay got up and smiled at Gabby before leaving through the bunk room.

Gabby started to follow her as a wave of nausea hit her; she spun on her heel and walked quickly to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her and took some deep breaths without actually throwing up. After a few minutes she felt better and walked out to the common room where she grabbed the chair between Matt and Shay. She put her head on the table and Matt moved in close concerned.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, just tired," she mumbled, "I blame you." Matt laughed as he squeezed her shoulder and went back to his interior design magazine. Gabby sat up knowing she had to do something or she was going to fall asleep. She grabbed a deck of cards and held them up. "Anyone want to play pitch?"

"I'm in." Otis called and he quickly recruited Cruz to be his partner and Gabby got Kelly. Gabby and Kelly quickly took the lead and won the game in only a few short hands.

As Kelly was shuffling the cards to start a new game he looked up at Gabby, who had gone pale. "Are you okay?" He asked. This also got Casey's attention.

"Hey, you are really pale. What's wrong?" Matt asked putting an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she tried to smile. "Play for me." She smiled at Casey and got up and quickly left.

She stumbled dizzily into the bathroom and barely made it to the stall before throwing up. Once she felt better she went to the sink and washed her mouth out. "Gabby?" Shay called out pushing into the bathroom. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Gabby smiled and dried her hands. "You guys must be losing it, my color is fine." She pretended to look at her face in the mirror.

Just then the bells rang calling them away to an accident and Gabby followed Shay out to the ambulance. As she weaved through the vehicles she caught Matt watching her. She gave him a small smile and hopped into the ambulance to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once they returned Gabby was sitting in the common room when her phone rang. Seeing it was her doctor, she stepped into the briefing room. "Hello." She greeted, hoping the doctor had the results of her tests from a few days ago.

"Miss Dawson, this is Dr. Whilhide, I have some good news for you. Based on your tests I can officially clear you for full duty."

"Really," Dawson smiled, "that is so great thank you so much." After exchanging a few more sentences Gabby hung up and went in search of Boden. "Chief, I just got a phone call and I have been cleared for full duty." She smiled and he grinned back at her.

"Congratulations Gabriela. I'll call Chief Tybird and let him know." Gabby nodded and happily and headed off to tell Matt.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was the night before Gabby's first shift at Austin and everyone was at Molly's celebrating. She was sitting at the bar with Matt and Shay when Matt wondered off to go talk to the truck guys sitting across the bar. Shay and Gabby were both starting to feel good and they were laughing when Gabby pulled a few aspirin out of her pocket and popped them into her mouth.

"Whoa do those two mix?" Shay laughed and gestured at Gabby with her beer.

"I really don't care, my head is pounding." Gabby swallowed the pills and Shay laughed at her.

"Man, headaches, vomiting, fatigue, I think I saw you run into the wall so dizziness, and you have been eating a lot of pretzels lately." She trailed off and took another sip of her beer. "If I didn't know any better I would say you were pregnant." She snickered and Gabby laughed too.

The smile quickly faded from her face as she did the math and though of all of her crazy symptoms. "Shay." She stuttered pushing her beer away.

"Are you?" Shay asked baffled.

"I don't know?" Gabby half shouted.

"Well let's go find out." Shay said as she stood up and paid her tab. She looked at Casey who came walking over and then to Gabby who shook her head no. "Hey Casey I'm going to seal your girl for a little while."

"Okay see you at home baby." Matt kissed her head and the two girls walked out and got in Gabby's car. She and Matt had driven separately because she had to help set up. Gabby followed the directions Shay gave her and stopped at the drug store Shay told her to stop at. Once Shay was back in the car with a brown paper bag they headed to Matt and Gabby's apartment. They went inside and Shay out the bag into Gabby's shaky hands.

"It'll be okay, no matter what." Shay told her reassuringly.

Gabby nodded and took a deep breath, she went into the bathroom and Shay sat at the table. A few minutes later Gabby came out of the bathroom and sat next to her. "Three minutes." Gabby laughed. "A few months ago I was complaining about 7 minutes and now this and…" She trailed off. "Please distract me." She begged.

"Gabby it'll be okay." Shay put her hand on Gabby's and squeezed it. "No matter what you will be okay. Matt will be ecstatic and you can work everything else out later."

"Thank you." Gabby smiled. Next thing they knew the timer on Gabby's watch beeped and she slowly swallowed and walked into the bathroom to retrieve the test. She came back trembling with the test in her hand. "Shay…" she breathed as the front door opened. Gabby shoved the test into her back pocket. Shay smiled at her and walked out as Matt walked into the house.

"Hey Shay." Matt greeted as she just offered him a smile and left. "Hey Gabby." Matt walked over to her and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Hi baby, uh we need to talk." Gabby said quietly.


	14. Chapter 14

Gabby led Matt over to the couch and sat down. She put her hands in her lap and he quickly grabbed them and scooted over closer to her rubbing her knuckles. "What's up." He asked quietly.

"I… I need to tell you…" Gabby trailed off nervously.

"Hey, I love you no matter what." Matt told Gabby honestly.

This gave Gabby a burst of courage and she used it. "Matt, I'm pregnant." She stopped and watched Matt go through the different emotions as the shock registered on his face. However the biggest grin Gabby had ever seen made its way onto Matt's face.

"Really?" He smiled, the joy resonating in his voice.

"Yeah." Gabby nodded and for the first time let her own joy creep into her voice because she felt Matt was happy too.

"Oh my god." Matt laughed as he pulled Gabby to him and planted a big kiss on her mouth. "I love you." He whispered pulling her into a hug. "I love both of you." He laughed. When he pulled back they saw the tears in each other's eyes.

Gabby took the test out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Look." She said and Matt stared at the proof astonished.

"We're going to be parents." Matt cheered standing up and pacing. Gabby stood up next to him and laughed as he cheered some more. "I'm going to be a dad." He pulled Gabby into him and gave her another kiss. He put her hand on her stomach, and stared at her marveling at the magnificence of the situation he had been waiting for since he proposed to Hallie. It was worth the wait and all he wanted to do was shout it from the rooftops.

Gabby yawned and Matt chuckled. "Let's get you to bed you need plenty of sleep." Matt smiled and guided Gabby into the bedroom and gave her one of his truck 81 t-shirts and he stripped down to his boxers. They sank into bed and Matt pulled Gabby into him as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his hands on her stomach. "I love you Gabs." Matt sighed. Gabby laid her hands over his and Matt took her left hand and rubbed his thumb over the silver ring.

"So I guess I'm going to try to come back to 51." Gabby sighed. "I want to be a firefighter but this take priority." Matt smiled and agreed with her. "But I want to go to the doctors and be sure first." Gabby said talking through her options.

"That's a good idea. Just be safe for me." Matt closed his eyes as he enjoyed the feeling of her warm stomach.

"I will." Gabby smiled as they fell asleep in each other's arms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning Gabby woke up alone. She went into the bathroom and took the other test Shay bought just to be sure nothing corrupted the test last night and this one came back positive too. She grinned as she sat at the table and Matt put a plate of fruit and a glass of juice on the table in front of her. "Good morning." Matt grinned. "How do you feel?"

"Amazing, I couldn't feel better." She grinned.

After a nice breakfast Gabby and Matt got ready to go to their respective firehouses. Matt walked over to Gabby's car with her and gave her a long kiss. "Stay safe." He told her.

"I will," Gabby promised him.

"Do you want me to say something to Boden, just so he knows?" Matt offered, "Maybe he can try to get you back."

"Uh, I'm going to call the doctor this morning so wait and see how soon I can get an appointment." She said, Matt nodded and gave Gabby one last kiss.

"I love you, be safe. And don't let that jerk push you around because he doesn't like me." He said as he started to walk away.

"You too, I'll see you tomorrow, and don't worry." She smiled as she climbed into the car and drove to Austin.

Once Dawson got to her new house she had barely walked in and put her things away when Welch found her. "Candidate, get started on breakfast and then you're running drills."

"Yes lieutenant." Dawson said dutifully as she walked off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Over at 51 everyone was settling in for the shift as Matt walked around with the biggest smile on his face. Shay smiled whenever she saw him because she knew why he was so happy.

"What's got you so happy?" Kelly asked as he and Matt each got a cup of coffee.

"Come here." Matt led Kelly into the briefing room and faced him with the same grin he had on all morning. "Dawson is pregnant." Casey laughed and Kelly broke into a smile too.

"Hey, congrats man, that's great. I'm happy for ya." Kelly gave Matt a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, we're really excited. We-"Matt was cut off when the bells suddenly rang.

_"Engine 51 Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61; structure fire 16__th__ and Wabash."_ The two men broke up their conversation and went out to their trucks.

As they were driving down the road Casey checked his phone, he had a text from Dawson saying she had a doctor's appointment two days from now. "Hey Casey, we're neck and neck with your old pal Welch." Hermann called from the back.

"If he wants this fire he can have it. Just drive the truck Cruz." Cruz nodded at him understanding. They continued toward the fire as a very nervous Dawson rode parallel to them.

Back in truck 81 Matt looked back at the guys laughing. They were in the back teasing Otis for some stupid thing he said when all of a sudden a strong impact blindsided them and caused the truck to overturn and glass to shatter over them.

Squad was right behind 81 and when the smoke cleared Kelly was able to see. "Oh no. Mayday, Mayday, Truck 81 and Truck 66 have collided, corner of 24th and Wabash!" Kelly shouted into the radio as his truck came to a stop and he jumped out and ran towards the accident.


	15. Chapter 15

"Mills, Tony, and Iven you get 66. Newhouse you're with me on 81." Kelly hoisted himself up on the side of 81 and looked down inside. "You guys okay?" He called.

"Mouch is bleeding." Casey reported and Kelly opened the door to check on him. "What happened?" Matt moaned brushing the glass out of the wound on his cheek. When Kelly didn't respond Matt asked again. "Kelly, what the hell happened?!" Matt pulled himself up on the console

"Whoa man stay still. Hermann grab your jump bag and put pressure on Mouch's head." Kelly pulled open the door and Newhouse helped Hermann out. Kelly moved back to Matt's door and opened it. "Casey, let me look at you." Kelly looked down at Matt's scratched face. "I think you're okay, let's you out. Shay, Brett," Kelly called. "I need one of you guys to distract Casey and try to keep him calm, tell him to help Mouch." Kelly and Shay both knew Matt would lose it if he knew Dawson and her baby could be in jeopardy. "Casey I need you to help Mouch okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Kelly pulled Mouch out and then Matt. He stayed between Matt and 66 until he was focused on helping Mouch down the side of the truck.

Over in truck 66 Gabby sat up and rubbed her head. She was lying over on her side against the door of the truck and her hair was covered in glass. There was blood down her face from a gash on her hairline. She looked over dazed and saw Mills walk over to her window. "Dawson you okay?" he asked.

"Mills," she said stunned. "What the hell happened?"

"You guys were in an accident, you'll be okay." He grinned at her reassuringly.

"What did we hit?" Dawson asked innocently trying to turn and look for herself, but not being able to see out of the front window which was extremely smashed.

"Uh, you guys got mixed up with 81." Mills said quietly and Dawson stared at him horrified.

"Oh no is Matt okay?" Dawson said and started to shake to door to get out and Mills put his hand on her arm.

"Gabby you've got to calm down. I'll get you out as soon as I can." Gabby was antsy but sat back against the seat.

Back over at 81 Matt had successfully got Mouch off the truck and when he turned to get down himself he looked up and saw another fire truck with a smashed front. The truck had a white 66 emblazoned on the front corner and Matt's heart sped up. "Oh god," Matt started to panic. He tried to climb down the truck faster but his foot slipped off the side and he fell and landed hard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Casey are you okay." Brett asked as she stepped in front of him. "Casey calm down, you need to stay out of their way."

Matt seemed like he didn't even hear a word she said as he pushed past her easily and Shay nodded, signaling for her to let him go. "Gabby!" Matt called as he ran over to her door. He looked in the window and saw her trapped inside. "Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded her head yes as she took account of his injuries. "I'll get you out." He took the hallagan from Mills' hands and used it to open Gabby's door himself. He made quick work out of it because this wasn't just any trapped person.

Once the door was open Matt threw the hallagan to the ground with a clang and caught Gabby in his arms as she fell out and hugged him. Matt kissed the side of her head and stroked her hair with relief. "Are you okay?" She asked, trailing her fingers down the side of his face over the bloody cuts.

"Yeah," He waved her off. "Are you?" Matt asked laying a hand protectively over Gabby's stomach.

"Yeah." Gabby shook her head yes. "We need to help." Gabby breathed as she noticed the chaos around her.

Matt planted a kiss on Gabby's lips and released her; the last thing his fingers left was her stomach.

Matt walked over to check on Mouch and Gabby walked around 66 to help getting Molina out of the driver's seat. As she walked around the truck Peter Mills fell off the roof of 66. "Mills!" Gabby yelled and knelt down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine I just wasn't paying attention." He said getting up and walking away.

"Newhouse replace Mills on the roof, Dawson in the cab, make sure Molina doesn't fall when we open the door." Kelly ordered.

Dawson jumped in the passenger seat and put her hands around Molina's neck to stabilize it. "I need a collar!" She called and Shay ran over and passed it through the window. Dawson got it around his neck right as Kelly popped the door open. Molina slumped over but Dawson was able to catch him before he fell. They successfully boarded Molina and got him in the ambulance.

As the commotion died down Matt wondered over to Gabby who was leaning against the back of truck 66. "Hey, how's Mouch?" She asked.

"I don't know, I'm just glad he was awake and talking." Matt shrugged.

"Yeah," Gabby offered him a small smile, "I'm sure he'll be okay." Gabby turned toward Matt and put her hand on the side of his face forcing him to turn his head so she could see his wound.

"I'm fine." Matt promised taking her hand in his and pulling it away from his face. "You are the one that should be looked at." Gabby had a slim trail of blood trailing down her face but the active bleeding had stopped.

"Oh I'll be alright." She brushed him away. "But this, this is just a shame, your beautiful face." She pouted and Matt chuckled.

"Nah, this ugly face." He laughed. "Besides I thought chicks think scars are hot." Matt half seriously smirked at her.

"Sorry babe these aren't that deep." Gabby laughed.

"Candidate! Let's go shall we." Welch yelled from a few yards away. "We're going to the hospital."

"I see you later." Gabby said as she started to leave.

"I think we are going over there too, but you need to stay with them, show company loyalty." Matt frowned.

"Well too bad I'm loyal to 81 and their sexy lieutenant." Gabby teased as they went toward their own companies vehicles.

"You know what I mean but thanks. Way to be a tease." Matt called over to her as she climbed into the van with the rest of the truck 66 crew.


	16. Chapter 16

Both truck crews went to the hospital and waited on any news about their injured brothers. Mouch was going to be okay but Molina was in an induced coma. Cruz was suspended from driving pending the investigation and the chiefs there told everyone to go home because they were too rattled to work.

When Matt walked into his apartment Gabby was perched on the couch with his laptop resting on her legs. "Hey, what are you up to?" Matt greeted her as he walked over and kissed her.

"Not much," She smiled, "Just looking at some wedding ideas." Matt nodded amused.

"Oh yeah, any good ideas?" He looked over her shoulder at the page she was on.

"Yeah, what do you think of a rustic wedding?" She looked at him quizzically.

"I just want you to be happy. Besides, I trust you." Matt smiled at her and she stretched her neck up and gave him a soft kiss. Matt put his bag on the table and kicked off his shoes. He stretched out on the couch next to Gabby and she curled into his side pushing the laptop onto the couch.

"Man, when Mills told me it was 81..." Gabby mumbled her voice cracking as she spoke. Matt tightened his arms around her and breathed in the smell of her shampoo.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Matt kissed her head as his heart ached when he thought of the very real possibility of losing Gabby like he almost did two months ago, and even worse, their baby. "So, if you still want that house, closing is tomorrow and I was going to do some work after we signed."

"Yeah, I still want it." Gabby smiled. "I'll help you get some things done."

Matt grinned, "That's fine by me but you aren't touching the nursery. That is all mine." Matt teased as he grabbed the laptop off the couch by Gabby. He typed the word 'nurseries' into the search bar and started scrolling through pictures of nurseries.

Gabby showed Matt a few pictures she liked before she started to yawn. Matt flipped the computer shut and nudged Gabby's arm. She moved forward and he lay down and pulled her into his chest. He wrapped his arms protectively around her body and rested his hands over her stomach. "I can't wait until I can feel him." Matt smiled.

"You think it's going to be a boy." Gabby smiled. "What if it's a girl?"

Matt shrugged, "I would be just as happy either way. I know I'm kind of jumping ahead but, do you have any names you like?"

"I don't know. I like Jeremiah and Isaac for a boy and Olivia and Rebecca for a girl." Gabby closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of Matt's strong chest after the stressful day she had.

"I like Andrew for a boy and Madeline or Bethany for a girl." He smiled. "I'm so excited; I can't wait to meet him or her." Matt rubbed his hand over her warm stomach in awe of what is being protected inside. "You have to come back to 51. 61 would be safer and I could protect you two." Matt sighed kissing her head.

"I know, but I want to see what the doctor says first." Gabby turned around to face Matt and started to kiss him. They were taking out all of their nerves from the crash by feeling the warm taste each other's breath in the others mouth. However, their kissing was quickly disturbed when Matt's phone rang. "Ugg ignore it." Gabby groaned into Matt's lips.

"It could be about Molina." Gabby sighed and Matt answered the phone. "Hey Kelly." Matt greeted. He listened a few seconds before he responded, "Yeah, sounds great. We'll be there, thanks man. See you later." Matt hung up the phone and looked at an expectant Gabby. "Kelly invited us over for dinner and to watch the Blackhawks' game."

"Oh okay that sound fun. I wanted to get together with Shay anyway." Gabby started to get up but Matt pulled her back down.

"We still have a little time before we have to leave." Matt whispered as he kissed Gabby's neck lovingly.

Gabby chuckled, "Well lucky for you I need a shower and we don't have to worry about you getting me pregnant anymore." Gabby laughed and ran into the bathroom with Matt close on her heels. When he caught her he kissed her and they quickly removes each other's clothing. They got in the shower and Matt pushed Gabby against the wall under the shower head and the warm water cascaded down their bodies.

Once the water started to run cold Matt quickly washed himself off and stepped out of the shower to give Gabby more room. He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked over to the sink to brush his teeth. As he stood there and looked at the foggy mirror he reached up and wrote I love you on the moist surface. Matt walked into the bedroom to put on clothes, he chose a pair of jeans and a snug black long sleeve shirt that Gabby loved and would keep him warm in the Chicago autumn. Gabby walked in behind him wrapped in a small tan towel. Her wet hair was dripping on her caramel colored shoulders; Matt leaned against the dresser as she walked to the closet.

"Well I'm not as creative but I love you too." Gabby smiled as she grabbed some clothes out of the closet and sat them on the bed.

"You're so beautiful," Matt said as he walked over to her and put his hands on her hips and pulled her into a kiss. "Ever since you've found out about the baby, you've been glowing." Matt smiled.

"Ha," Gabby laughed. "Me? Have you seen yourself?" Matt gave her another kiss and once they broke apart she put her hand on his shoulders. "Okay, if we start this again we'll never make it to Shay and Severide's place." Gabby sighed and Matt put up his hands in defeat only to reach put and pinch Gabby's butt when she turned around. Gabby spun back to face him with a look of disapproval on her face that quickly turned into a smile as she swatted his hand away and pushed him from the room. "Gosh such the charmer." They laughed as Gabby banished Matt to the living room so she could get dressed.

An hour later Matt and Gabby were on their way to Shay and Severide's house. When they knocked on the door Severide pulled it opened and welcomed them in. Gabby went into the kitchen where Shay was making dinner and Matt and Kelly went into the living room to watch the game. "Hey girl, how are you feeling?" Shay asked while she stirred a pot in the stove.

"I actually feel really good today." Gabby smiled, "You know besides the wreck."

"Yeah, that's understandable." Shay said as she walked to the fridge. She grabbed 3 beers and a bottle of water.

"I'll take these to the guys." Gabby said taking two of the beers into the living room. When she returned Shay had pulled out a few wedding magazines and had them open on the counter.

"Okay, as your maid of honor it is my job to help you plan the perfect wedding." She proclaimed.

Gabby laughed, "Well Matt and I haven't discussed a date but I want to get married soon so I can still fit into a dress, so we better get started." Gabby sat down at the bar and opened a magazine. "I kind of like the idea of a rustic wedding for some reason, vintage maybe."

Shay nodded as she leafed through her magazine. "Like this?" Shay showed Gabby a picture of a beautiful outdoor wedding with lots of lace and natural decorations. There were Mason jar lanterns and the bouquet was wrapped in twine with a simple lace bow. The picture was taken in a beautiful countryside venue.

Gabby nodded. "When we were kids my dad would always take Antonio and me out to a cabin and I loved it there, more than in the city sometimes." Shay turned the page and saw another picture from the same wedding; it was of the bride and groom on a hill with a beautiful sunset behind them. "Is that an ad for that venue?" Gabby asked grabbing the magazine. "It is! I am definitely going to show Matt this." Gabby laughed as the timer on the stove went off.

They enjoyed a delicious dinner and after the girls cleaned the kitchen they joined Matt and Kelly to watch the end of the game. Shay was sitting on the chair and Kelly and Matt were on opposite sides of the couch so Gabby sat between them and Matt wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side as he cheered at the game. Once the game ended and the Blackhawks won Gabby drove them home because she hadn't been drinking.

Once at home they crawled into bed, Matt pulled Gabby into his arms and kissed her stomach. "Doctors tomorrow morning right?" He asked.

"Yeah," She smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too," Matt smiled back as they fell asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning Gabby and Matt headed out to get to Gabby's doctor's appointment so they could get official confirmation of her pregnancy and the first ultrasound. As they sat anxiously out in the waiting room Matt sat his and on Gabby's knee, which was jiggling nervously. "Why are you so nervous?" Matt asked her smiling.

"I don't know, I just am. I've never done this before you know." Gabby joked nudging him with her elbow.

Just then the door across the room opened and a woman in blue scrubs walked out. "Gabriela Dawson." She called out and Gabby stood up with Matt close behind. They were led into a small room and the nurse left. Gabby and Matt sat in silence until another nurse came in. He took a blood sample and left to test it to see if Gabby is actually pregnant.

About 15 minutes later a doctor walked in with a clipboard in his hands. "Gabriela Dawson?" she asked as she cautiously opened the door.

"Come in." Gabby said softly.

"Hello Miss Dawson, I'm Dr. Evans," she smiled warmly and shook Gabby's hand. "And you are?" She asked Matt as she reached out to shake his hand.

"I'm Matt Casey, Gabby's fiancé and the baby's father." Matt smiled at the woman and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Casey. Well I have some good news for you, you are pregnant." She said smiling at Gabby. Gabby was grinning from ear to ear and Matt squeezed her shoulder and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Congratulations first off, now I want to get an ultrasound so I'm going to send in a tech and get that done."

As soon as she left Gabby jumped up and gave Matt a hug and kissed him. "We're going to have a baby." She smiled with tears in her eyes and he pulled her closer into his body.

"Yeah," He smiled, his voice catching in his voice as he released Gabby and she sat back down as the tech walked in.

"So, are you ready to see your baby?" She smiled and prepared the machine.

Gabby lay back on the table and she turned off the lights so they could see better. She applied a cold jell to Gabby's stomach and pressed the wand into her skin. Matt held Gabby's hand as they waited. A few seconds later a loud beating filled the room. Another wave of tears hit Gabby as she listened to the beating of her tiny baby's heart. She looked over at Matt who was tearing up; he wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye and kissed Gabby's hand, his eyes never leaving the first image of the tiny, tiny baby he created with Gabby.

"Well, all looks healthy to me but the doctor reviews all ultrasounds. So she will be back shortly. Congratulations again." The woman smiled and walked out of the room.

Matt kissed Gabby passionately and hugged her while she was still on the table. "Thank you," He whispered in her ear and she pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"Why I haven't done anything yet?" Gabby smiled at him teasing. "Just wait until I go into labor that is when the work starts."

Matt grinned, "I'll be there the entire time." Matt laughed as he sat back down in his chair.

The doctor walked back in a moment later. "Well, everything with your ultrasound looks good, you are about 8 weeks along," she smiled. "Here are some pictures." She handed a small stack of photos to Gabby. "I do want to talk to you about some things; I understand you're a firefighter."

"Yeah, but I'm going to transfer back to my old ambulance to be safer for the baby." Gabby nodded.

"That's good, but I was looking over your medical history and I see you had an emergency liver transplant about two and a half months ago." Gabby nodded. "I'm afraid that any lifting could jeopardize the baby, especially once it starts to grow and put pressure on your other organs. So you need to find a way to avoid as much physical lifting as possible." Gabby and Matt both nodded. "You are already at an increased risk for placental tearing because of the surgery but we will closely monitor you and if you follow our instructions everything will be fine." She reassured them.

"We'll do whatever it takes." Matt said honestly.

"I'm glad to hear that. Now we're all done here and the receptionist will take care of you in the lobby, I need to see you back in a month." She shook Matt and Gabby's hands and left. After Gabby scheduled another appointment they walked hand and hand back to Matt's truck.

"Now I guess we do need that house so I can put together that nursery." Matt chuckled as he leaned over and gave Gabby a kiss. Gabby slid over to the middle seat and leaned her head onto Matt's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her.

"I guess we do." She said as she buckled her seat belt and Matt drove them to the realtor's office.

It only took them a couple of minutes to sign the papers so they officially had ownership standing over the house. They both were ecstatic as they walked back out to the truck. "So where to now my lady?" Matt asked jokingly as he opened Gabby's door.

"Anywhere?" Gabby asked and Matt nodded yes. "I'll guide you. Get in." She giggled. Matt got in and she guided him to a shopping center and told him to park in front of a baby store.

"You know what? I'm actually excited to go shopping for once." Matt smiled at her as he got out.

They walked into the store and headed to the newborn section. After a few minutes of rifling through the clothes Gabby had found a few things she liked that would work for a boy or a girl. Matt was on the other side of the isle when he heard Gabby gasp. "What is it, are you okay?" He asked worried.

Gabby held up a white onesie with a fire truck on the front with _My Daddy is A Hero_ emblazoned in navy blue underneath it. "Isn't this the cutest thing ever?!" Gabby squealed and Matt chuckled.

"Yeah, I love it babe." Matt smiled as they decided what to get and paid for the clothes. On the way home they stopped by the home improvement store and got what Matt needed for the house and some boxes to pack up the apartment.

Once at home Gabby made lunch and they spent the rest of the day planning the wedding, looking at design ideas for the house and staring in awe at the picture of their baby.


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning Matt walked into 51 early with Gabby a few minutes behind him. They were going to tell Boden about the baby and then Gabby was going to tell her current chief and Lieutenant Welch that she was going to put in for a transfer back to Ambulance 61 today. Matt was the only one in the common room so he walked into the kitchen.

Matt grabbed a black sharpie off the counter and wrote _'CASEY' _in big letters on the bottom of one of the ultrasound photos Gabby told him he could take to the house. They had decided to just put the picture up in the house and let everyone find out. Matt grinned as he put a magnet over the corner of the photo and left it in the middle of the refrigerator. Matt turned around and saw Gabby walking in, "Looks good doesn't it?" Matt smiled at her.

"Perfect." Gabby smiled. "Let's go talk to Chief I have to get to Austin for today still." Gabby opened the door that leads to the offices and Matt followed her.

Matt passed Gabby and knocked on the door of Boden's office and he waved them in. "Morning guys, how are you doing Gabriela?" Boden asked as he set his pen down.

"I'm doing good Chief." Gabby smiled at him.

"Yeah, but Gabby and I wanted to talk to you about something." Matt paused and Boden motioned for him to continue. "Gabby is pregnant so, we're going to be parents." Matt grinned and Boden smiled back at him and got up to walk around his desk. He gave shook both of their hands and said congratulations.

"Yeah, and I was hoping to transfer back onto 61 because based on my medical history the doctor said any stress could be detrimental." Gabby told Boden matter-of-factly.

"We would love to have you back but your spot has been filled." Boden said grimly.

"I understand if you can't do anything but it would almost be better if there was three of us because I can only do minimal lifting especially once the baby starts to get bigger." Gabby explained.

"That may be a possibility but we need approval from the upper ups." Boden told the two of them.

Gabby nodded, "I'm going to fill out the transfer papers and take them over to headquarters to explain the situation."

"If there is anything I can do I will." Boden replied.

"Thanks Chief," Matt said.

"I need to get going so I'm not late for roll call over at Austin." Gabby said. Boden told them congratulations again and Matt and Gabby left.

Matt and Gabby walked back toward the apparatus floor and when they passed the common room everyone was gathered in the kitchen, they almost made it out when Hermann turned around. "Hey, Casey, Dawson, you guys have something you need to tell us?"

Matt laughed and Gabby looked at him and gave him permission to tell the others. "Gabby and I are going to have a baby." Matt announced. All of the guys cheered and came over to them. They took turns shaking Matt's hand and giving Gabby hugs. "Oh and we're getting married too, I guess I should add that." Everyone laughed and cheered some more. The commotion started to die down and Hermann approached Matt and shook his hand.

"Having a kid, it's the best thing you'll ever do." Hermann grinned at him supportively.

"Thanks Hermann." After everyone wondered away Matt turned to Gabby. "You better get going." He said as he took her hand and led her out to her car. "Be safe, I love you." Matt said and kissed Gabby.

"I love you too." She smiled and climbed into her car. She drove off and Matt walked back into 51. He went to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee. Matt looked up at the picture hung on the fridge with his name on it and grinned at it proudly. Everything he wanted was falling into place.

"Hey so how did Dawson's doctor's appointment go yesterday?" Shay asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Great," Matt smiled. "In about 32 weeks we'll get to meet that little guy." Matt gestured toward the picture on the fridge.

"I'm happy for you guys." Shay smiled and started to leave.

"Hey, Shay wait, can I talk to you for a minute?" Matt asked seriously. Shay shook her head yes and he led her into the briefing room. "So the doctor also said because of her surgery after the collapse she is more prone to placental tearing due to pressure," Matt hesitated stumbling, trying to remember the medical terminology. "So she can't do much lifting, if any. Bottom line is she is going to try to get back on 81 with you and Brett so maybe she can avoid some lifting and I wanted you to know so you can maybe help me keep her safe. I wouldn't ask but I mean we know Gabby." Matt shook his head starting to ramble.

"Yeah, say no more." Shay nodded. "I'll take care of her."

"Thanks Shay." Matt sighed. He went back into the common room and took a seat at the table. He was reading the morning newspaper when his cellphone buzzed in his pocket.

_"Welch thinks moving back to 51 is a good idea. He might just be trying to get rid of me but I don't even care." _Gabby had sent him a text and Matt smiled because she added a little smiley face to the end.

_"I'm glad babe, I want you back home at 51."_ He replied.

_"So guess who's looking at wedding magazines and wants to start planning her wedding."_

_ "Welch." _Matt answered sarcastically.

_"Yep totally."_ Gabby sent him a winking face before continuing. _"So what do you think about getting married September 21st?"_

Matt scrolled through his calendar quickly before replying. _"Sounds perfect." _He typed as the bells rang. _"Got a call, love you." _Matt quickly typed as he ran out to the truck.

_"Be safe I love you too."_ Gabby quickly responded.

_"Always"_ was the last thing he sent her as the truck pulled out of the garage.

Gabby sat nervously trying to read her magazine across town. She was praying all of the guys would stay safe and counting down the days until she could g_o _back and keep an eye on them.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning Gabby and Matt got off shift. Gabby went over to headquarters to apply for a transfer back to 61 and Matt stopped at a home improvement store on the way to the house. Matt bought some paint and hardwood flooring for the living room. He got a few other little things that would keep him busy for now. After a few hours of painting he herd the front door open.

"Matt?" Gabby called out in her sweet voice.

"In here." Matt replied as she rounded the corner.

"So I have some good news." Gabby grinned. "My transfer was approved and I'm coming back to 51."

"Congratulations babe." Matt smiled and went to give Gabby a kiss. "It'll be great to get you home." Matt gave her a warm hug.

"Yeah, they are letting me come back and work with Shay and Brett so I can avoid lifting." She informed him.

"That's great." Matt sighed. "I'm glad you're going to be safe." He gave her a small smile.

"Yeah well you have to be safe too. I can't do this without you." Gabby said softly, sensing something was wrong.

Matt placed his hand on her stomach and Gabby put her hands on his face drawing his forehead to hers. Matt sighed. "There was this call…" He trailed off and Gabby knew where he was going.

"It's okay." She said quietly. They stood there quietly for a long moment before Gabby finally broke the silence. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Matt let out a shaky breath and started to rub small circles on Gabby's stomach. "It was a- a kid. She was just a baby." Matt's voice cracked and he laid his head on Gabby's shoulder. "It was a car wreck and a big piece of metal was sticking out of her stomach. She was crying and pale and so scared. They got sandwiched between two big trucks and we couldn't get to her. I was trying Gabby god I was trying." A couple of tears fell out of Matt's eyes and Gabby wrapped her arms around his neck. "I climbed in the driver's seat so she wouldn't be alone. I held her hand but I couldn't save her." Matt tried to hold back his emotion. He stood up straight and went back to the wall.

"Hey, it's not your fault, you tried but it's not good to bury it, trust me." Gabby took a step closer to him as he blurted out his next statement.

"What if I let that happen to our baby?" Matt whispered as he fell into the unpainted section of the wall.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't say that. It's not going to happen." Gabby tried to reassure him.

"It's days like this I wonder why I'm even a firefighter. I just-" Matt trailed off.

"Matt. Matt look at me." Gabby put her hand on Matt's chin and guided his face down so she could look in his eyes. "I love you and you are a phenomenal man and firefighter and are going to be a phenomenal father. Chicago needs you, and so do I and this is who you are."

Matt sighed and nodded. "I love you so much Gabby." she wormed her way into Matt's warm arms and he squeezed her tight. He inhaled her sweet sent and sighed into her hair. "Thank you."

"Always." She smiled and he pulled away. "Do you want some help?" Gabby asked and Matt grinned at her again.

"Sure." He bent over and got her a paint roller and started to give it to her and then stopped. "Do you want an old shirt? I have another in my truck."

"Oh yeah, I'll be right back." Gabby walked outside and grabbed a grey, paint-splattered truck 81 shirt out of Matt's truck. She walked back inside and took her shirt off and laid it beside Matt's tool belt in the center of the room she started to pull the shirt over her head when Matt stopped her.

"Wait." He told her as he waddled over on his knees and left the baseboard trim cutting he was working on. "Look." Matt laughed as he laid his hands over Gabby's slightly swollen belly. It was hardly noticeable but he could see it. "Beautiful," Matt grinned. He planted a soft kiss on her smooth stomach.

"Oh my gosh." Gabby smiled widely as she noticed the bulge. "Our little baby." She smiled at Matt and he stared back in awe.

"Come here." Matt laughed as he sat on the ground and pulled Gabby onto his lap. Gabby squealed with laughter and wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. Then Matt leaned Gabby back and bent over her stomach. "Hey little baby, how are you doing in there? I bet you're pretty happy inside your beautiful mommy. I wish you were here already I want to meet you but I guess this will do as long as you keep growing for me." Gabby was laughing with joy at the feeling of Matt's warm breath on her stomach. "Do you hear that beautiful sound of your mommy laughing? Aren't we the luckiest people in the world?" Matt sat up and pulled Gabby's lips to his. He planted a few sloppy kisses on her mouth before moving down her neck and to her shoulder. He planted one final loving kiss on her lips before he leaned back and looked into Gabby's eyes.

"You're the best." She grinned as she examined his blue eyes. "I can't wait to marry you." Gabby smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

"I don't know what I would do without you." Matt sighed and kissed Gabby's cheek.

"Oh hey, I have kind of slacked off on talking to my family, so can we have Antonio and my parents over for dinner soon and tell them about the wedding and the baby." Gabby asked him.

"Of course I would absolutely love to. I mean I'm sure your dad will still try to scare me but I would love to." Matt laughed as he tried to look tough.

"He does scare you." Gabby told him bluntly.

"He does a little bit," Matt admitted. "But I'm not going anywhere." Matt kissed Gabby's lips softly again.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too Gabby," He smiled, "so much."


	20. Chapter 20

Gabby was running between the kitchen and the bedroom frantically trying to get ready for dinner with her parents and Antonio. Matt got out of the shower and dressed in jeans and a nice sweater. When he stepped into the hall he realized Gabby's panic had escalated.

"Gab," He said as he grabbed her as she tried to make it back to the kitchen. "Calm down. I thought you were excited." Matt chuckled.

"I am, I just realized though that I am about to tell my family that I am getting married, buying a house and oh you know having a baby." Gabby's eyes were huge and frantic so Matt gave her a hug.

"I'm sure your parents will be thrilled because they want nothing but your happiness." Matt said looking into her eyes earnestly. "And if they aren't, we'll deal with it. All that matters to me is your happiness."

Gabby sighed. "How can you be so sure?" She asked quietly.

"Because Antonio already knows I was going to ask you to marry me. He gave me his blessing but I don't know if he told your parents." Matt informed Gabby calmly.

She sighed, "Really, okay, I have to calm down." Gabby shook her hands out.

"Yeah, this can't be good for the baby." Matt told her worriedly.

"You're right, it can't be good." Gabby ran her hand over her forehead. "How are you so calm?" She laughed looking at Matt.

"Me?" Matt said pointing to himself. "Oh I'm a nervous wreck; your dad could still kill me at any moment. But we are going to be married and our jobs are to calm each other down when we panic. What do you think you were doing for me at the house the other day?"

Gabby gave Matt a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." She whispered. "Okay, dinner is ready, just being kept warm, ultrasound photos are hidden for now and I have my ring." Gabby ticked off her check list on her fingers just as the doorbell rang. "Okay, how do I look?" Gabby asked smoothing her short black dress.

"Beautiful." Matt kissed her forehead as he went to open the door. "Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, come on in." Matt smiled as he opened the door.

"Matt how many times do we have to tell you Maria and Edward please, we're all family. Mom and Dad even work." Maria smiled at Matt.

"Yes of course Maria." Matt smiled as Gabby gave each of her parents a hug and Matt shook Edward's hand as he walked in. "Hey Antonio." Matt shook Antonio's hand too, relieved that he knew someone had given him permission to start his life with Gabby.

"Come on in, dinner is ready." Gabby said as Antonio gave her a short hug.

She led everyone to the dining room and served her delicious meal. "Ah Gabriela, you're Abuela's special." Maria smiled as she sat down.

"Yeah, I know everyone likes it." Gabby smiled and took her seat next to Matt. After everyone had served themselves they enjoyed a wonderful dinner as they caught up on how they all were doing. Toward the end of dinner Matt started to get nervous because he knew the announcement was coming soon.

Gabby looked over at Matt with a smile and he knew she was getting ready to announce the surprises. "So Matt and I have some news." Gabby started as she took Matt's hand under the table. His hands were slightly shaking as he met Antonio's knowing look. "We bought a house, like a real house." Gabby grinned and Matt only got more nervous because he knew the smallest surprise was out.

"That's great honey what's it like?" Asked Edward.

"It's really nice and we got it cheap because it's unfinished and Matt is going to finish it for us." Edward looked impressed over at Matt. "Yeah, we figured that we may as well jump on the chance, we will need some space, because we are getting married." Gabby announced and Maria jumped up excitedly and Gabby stood to meet her in a hug. The girls stood for a minute as Gabby showed off her ring to her mother.

Edward just stared at Matt over the table not saying a word. Matt was fidgeting in his chair and Antonio laughed. "Come on pops I gave him permission on your behalf and I think I scared him enough then."

Edward's scowl broke into a smile as he stood up and went to shake Matt's hand. "Welcome to the family son." He laughed patting Matt on the shoulder. 

"Thank you." Matt smiled at his future father in law.

"If everyone is finished, why don't we go to the living room?" Gabby suggested. Antonio stood up too and they all walked into the living room. Antonio and his father each took a chair and Gabby was sitting between Matt and Maria on the couch.

"So have you guys started any wedding planning?" Maria asked the couple.

"Uh, yeah a little bit." Matt responded looking to Gabby.

"Yeah, but the only thing we have decided is that we are going to get married on September 21st." Gabby smiled at her mother as she took Matt's hand again.

"Gabs you do realize that's like two months away." Antonio laughed. "Will your perfectionist self be able to plan the whole thing that quickly?"

"Yeah, we know it's soon but we wanted to get married quickly because a few days after Matt proposed to me…" Gabby trailed off for a moment, glancing at a nervous Matt and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "We found out we are going to have a baby." Gabby said happily as she looked at her parents for their reactions.

"Oh Gabriela, congratulations!" Maria squealed as she gave Gabby a hug. Everyone stood up to congratulate the couple.

Antonio gave Matt a quick hug, "Congrats man. But I don't think I can save you from dad now." Antonio laughed and Matt turned to face Edward. He was giving Gabby a hug and Maria came over to hug Matt. Once they pulled away Matt's eyes met Edward's. He swallowed as the man approached him and Gabby took Matt's arm.

"Oh come on dad, haven't you scared him enough?" Gabby laughed and Edward's expression softened into a smile.

"Congratulations," He said shaking Matt's hand. "You better take care of them though." He warned.

"Of course, always." Matt smiled and then looked down at Gabby who pulled him back to the couch so they could all sit and talk for a little while longer.

After another hour or so of talking the three guests left after Gabby had given her mother a picture of the baby.

Once Matt shut the door he fell against it. "Man your dad was seriously scaring me." He looked at Gabby who just laughed.

"It's his job." She went over and gave Matt a long kiss. "Come on lets go to bed." She yawned sleepily.

"Okay," He smiled at her. As they walked down the hallway Matt wrapped his arms around Gabby's neck torso from behind and pulled her into bed on top of him. "I'm glad we told them." He smiled.

"Me too." Gabby smiled back nuzzling her head into his muscular chest.


	21. Chapter 21

A few days later Matt and Gabby walked up to firehouse 51 for Gabby's first shift back. "I'm glad you're back home." Matt smiled at Gabby and squeezed her hand.

"It's really good to be back." Gabby smiled as they walked through the open doors of the apparatus floor.

"Ahh. There's my girl!" Shay squealed and ran over to give Gabby a hug. "How are you feeling?" Shay asked as she let go of Gabby.

"I feel great. I'm glad to be back." Gabby smiled as she continued into the locker room. She quickly changed and put her things back into her old locker. Once everything was back where it belonged she shut the locker door and grabbed the roll of masking tape. She pulled a strip from it and stuck it to the door and wrote _"Dawson"_ on it and she was officially back.

She walked into the common room and everyone cheered and a few people shouted welcome back. Gabby laughed, "Thanks guys, it's great to be back." The applause died down and Gabby walked over to the coffee machine. She started to pour herself a cup when she heard her name behind her and turned around.

"Gabriela Dawson?" A small blond woman asked, "Sylvie Brett, I'm the other paramedic on 61." She smiled and she stuck her hand out to shake Dawson's hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to working with you." Gabby smiled as Brett walked away.

Gabby put her large cup of coffee to her lips and Matt walked up and leaned against the counter. He gently reached up and pulled the mug away from her lips. "Hey new girl, so correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that have something to do with you?" Matt pointed at the ultrasound photo that was still stuck to the fridge.

"Oh you know just a little bit." Gabby laughed sarcastically.

"Well then I am going to have to confiscate this." Matt said as he took the coffee and sipped on it himself. "Because, you see I have been doing some reading and caffeine is bad for pregnant women."

"You've been reading about pregnancy?" Gabby smiled at him and he nodded yes. "That's really amazing; you are going to be so much more prepared than me." Gabby laughed nervously.

"Don't worry we still have plenty of time and you are going to be so much better than me anyway. I have no experience with kids and you at least have nieces and nephews I don't even know if I have ever changed a diaper." Matt laughed.

"Well, this is why we are a team. What I don't know you do." She smiled. "Okay, so what can I drink?" Gabby asked.

"Decaf." Matt smiled and poured her cup. He gave it to her and she grimaced slightly.

She sighed and took the mug. "It'll all be worth it." She muttered and went to the table and sat next to Shay. "So," Gabby lowered her voice, "Is it just me or does Brett look just like you." Gabby laughed a little.

"Oh I know," Shay laughed and hid her face in her magazine. "Okay so, we have two, months to plan the prefect wedding." Shay said and laid the magazine out on the table.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I know." She said as Matt sat down on the other side of her. "Perfect, you," Gabby laughed and pointed at Matt, "what do you think about this." Gabby showed him the beautiful venue she and Shay had discovered a few days ago.

"It's beautiful. But as long as you like it I don't care." Matt smiled at Gabby.

"Okay, so who is going to be in the wedding?" She asked.

"I don't know who do you want?" Matt responded.

"How about, Shay, Laura, as long as Antonio is fine with it, Isabella, I want to call Heather Darden and do you think Christy would want to be a bridesmaid?" Gabby looked at Matt sheepishly.

"Can't hurt to ask." Matt smiled and lowered his voice. "I was thinking about asking Kelly to be my best man, Antonio, Hermann, Chief and Mills, I guess. Or maybe Otis or Cruz because of the whole you guys dating thing."

"Sounds good," she smiled. "And then Violet and Eva could be flower girls and Diego could be the ring bearer."

"Sounds perfect." Matt smiled. "I'm going to go ask Kelly." Matt said as he got up and walked across the common room. He put his hand on Kelly's shoulder and Kelly got up to follow him out of the room. "So, I wanted to ask you something. Will you be my best man in the wedding?"

Kelly laughed loudly, "Sure man of course!" Kelly gave Matt a quick hug. "I'd love to." Kelly laughed. "I'm going to throw you one hell of a bachelor party." Kelly laughed again.

"Thanks man I-"Matt was cut off by the bells calling them to a car wreck.

They turned and went to their trucks. On the way out Matt walked next to Gabby. As they rounded the truck Matt nudged Gabby, "Kick some ass." Matt smiled at her. "Be safe though." He warned.

"I'll be fine, you stay safe too though." Gabby smiled and climbed into the ambulance.


	22. Chapter 22

**Two weeks later**

Matt woke up to the morning sun streaming through the window. He stretched his body and rolled over to face Gabby. She was still peacefully asleep so Matt carefully wrapped his arms around her still body and placed his hands over her slightly rounded stomach. Gabby was now 12 weeks pregnant and now she no longer had just a swollen stomach, but an actual baby bump. The bump was small and you couldn't see it through any clothes yet, but Matt could just barely feel it through the loose t-shirt Gabby was sleeping in.

Gabby moaned and scooted back further into Matt's arms. "Good morning beautiful." He said nuzzling her neck.

"Morning." Gabby yawned back. She opened her brown eyes and looked at the clock on the table. "I have a doctor's appointment at noon." She smiled and laid her head back down. "Then it's mine and Hermann's turn to run Molly's."

"Okay," Matt mumbled. "I want to go work on the house anyway. I think we will be able to move in, in the next couple of weeks." Matt had been making some major progress on the house with Gabby's help. The only room he had been saving was on bedroom down the hall from the master bedroom, which was going to be the nursery. All he had left to do was some tile work in the kitchen, finish the fireplace mantel piece, and rewire a couple of fixtures in the guest bathroom.

"That's great," Gabby smiled, "thank you for working so hard on this house."

"Anything for our family." Matt tightened his arms around her waist as her stomach growled. Matt chuckled, "That includes food. What do you want?" He asked getting out of bed.

"Let me make you pancakes." Gabby said following his lead and standing up as well.

"I've got it you can get some more rest." He told her as they reached the bedroom door.

"Oh no, eventually I'll get too big to cook so I want to do as much as I can right now." Gabby laughed, "And I never thought I would see the day when you would turn down my pancakes." She grinned and stepped into the kitchen and started to cook. "Go on, I'll call you when they're ready." She smiled.

Matt wondered into the living room and turned on the TV. He watched the news until Gabby told him that breakfast was ready. After breakfast Matt cleaned up the kitchen and he and Gabby curled up on the couch to watch a movie before Gabby's doctor's appointment. They watched some horror movie Matt had wanted to see but Gabby had been too afraid to watch at night.

Half way through the movie Gabby buried her head into Matt's chest. "Don't you know these possession things are bad?" She mumbled. Matt laughed and pulled his arm tight around Gabby's shoulders.

"They're not real." He told her, reassuringly.

After another 45 minutes the movie was over and Gabby still had her head buried in Matt's side. "I never could have watched that at night." She laughed and got up. "Okay, now that I'm thoroughly traumatized, I have a doctor's appointment to get to." Matt got up and they went to get ready.

At noon Gabby and Matt were escorted back to a room. An ultrasound tech came in and started the machine. Gabby and Matt both grinned as the sound of a loud heart beat filled the room. The picture of their little baby covered the screen. "There he is." Matt whispered in Gabby's ear sweetly.

After the doctor reviewed the images she told Gabby that everything was fine and the baby was growing perfectly, she and Matt left. They rode in Matt's truck over to the house where Gabby started to work on the kitchen tile and Matt sat across the room and worked on the mantel piece.

"Month and a half until the wedding." Matt smiled at her.

"Yeah," Gabby laughed.

"You guys should go wedding dress shopping." Matt looked over at her and watched the grin spread over her face.

"Yeah, I should talk to Shay tonight." Gabby smiled and continued to work on the tile. "So, I called that venue I showed you and they are reasonable and it's only 20 minutes from here."

"That's perfect." Matt smiled, "Can we go see it in person?"

"Yeah, I just need to give them a call and tell them when." She smiled and Matt nodded his head and focused on the task he was working on. After a few hours of talking and working Matt and Gabby went home so Gabby could get ready to go to Molly's.

Gabby and Matt walked into Molly's an hour before opening. Hermann and Gabby worked behind the bar to make sure that everything was ready and after 15 minutes of being open they knew it was going to be a busy night.

At one point Dawson was at one end of the bar and a man who was half drunk wondered up to her. "Can I have another one of these?"

"Of course," Gabby gave him another beer and smiled at him.

"I'm Drake." He said and stuck his hand out to Gabby.

"Gabby," she smiled politely. When he didn't let go of her hand she pulled it away quickly. "I have to get the other customers refills." Gabby said knowing that the worst thing she could possibly do would be to keep listening to this guy. As she started to leave he reached over the bar and grabbed her arm.

"We're having a conversation; it would be rude for you to leave." He slurred and squeezed Gabby's arm tightly.

"Excuse me," She scolded. "Let me go." She griped.

Just then Matt noticed what was going on from across the bar and he stood up and was across the bar as quickly as possible. "Let her go." He growled in a low tone.

Drake looked at Matt smugly. "Mind you own business buddy."

"Let her go, now." Matt scowled at the man and Drew knew he meant business.

"Calm down buddy." Drew laughed and let Gabby go. "I'll see you later." He winked at her and sauntered away.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gabby brushed the hair out of her face and walked off to take care of the other patrons.


	23. Chapter 23

A few hours later the man, Drake, was still sitting in the corner. He was slowly nursing a beer and watching Gabby move behind the bar. Matt's eyes never left him and the entire time he was ready to beat the idiot staring at his girl senseless.

"I'm going to kick his ass." Matt spat as he started to stand up. Kelly put his hand on Matt's arm stopping him.

"Hey, Casey, let him go, he's just a creep and you don't want the cops to come down here and break you too up do you?" Casey shook his head no and sat back down, still agitated. "Good, because that would have ended with both of your asses in a jail cell and a bad rep for Molly's and you don't want that for Dawson's sake." Matt nodded and took another sip of his beer as he listened to Kelly's wise words.

"If he does anything else, then he is going to get it." Matt hissed bitterly.

"Good because that would be provoked." Kelly said and Matt agreed, his eyes never leaving the man in the corner.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shay arrived about an hour after the incident and walked up to Gabby at the bar. "Hey girl." Shay called enthusiastically.

"Hey Shay." Gabby said quietly and Shay narrowed her eyes at her across the bar.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly because she could tell something was wrong with her best friend.

"Yeah, some creep was hitting on me and grabbed my arm and if Casey hadn't come over…" Gabby trailed off and just shrugged.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Shay asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she faked a smile and served Shay her favorite drink.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was nearing 11 now and the bar was slowly starting to clear out. Gabby and Hermann decided to start to clean up so hopefully they could leave early because they had shift tomorrow. Dawson had cleaned all of the dirty glasses that they had as Hermann tended to a small group. Dawson noticed that it was Lindsay, Ruzek, Burgess, Hallstead, and Atwater. Dawson was glad to see some of Antonio's coworkers in the bar; even though Antonio wasn't here she was good friends with most of them.

Gabby watched Matt walk into the back toward the bathrooms and she walked out from behind the bar to go collect more empty glasses that need to be washed. She made her way toward the back of the bar and was collecting the dirty glasses from the Squad table.

"So that loser is gone, let's have that chat." A voice whispered in Gabby's ear and she spun around and took a step back. It was Drake.

"Get away from me you creep." Gabby snapped at him and tried to push past him but he grabbed her and tried to pull her to the back door.

"That wasn't very nice beautiful." He whispered and she shoved him away.

People were starting to look over at them, Kelly and Mills stood up and Hermann walked out from behind the bar. "Get lost." She scolded harshly.

Drake grabbed her again and Kelly and Mills pushed him away. Mills stood protectively in front of Dawson and Kelly shoved Drake back. "She told you to leave her alone." Kelly told him.

"Stay out of this." He yelled at Kelly.

"No," Kelly shook his head with a death glare.

Hermann made it over to them and got between Kelly and the man. "Get out of my bar." He ordered. Drake just shook his head no smugly. "Now."

"Okay buddy do you want us to arrest you, because you've been asked to leave so we have cause." Jay said as he and Lindsay approached the group. When he didn't move Jay put his hand on the man's arm and pushed him toward the door. "Out."

He went out the front door and everyone calmed down and went back to their conversations. "Are you okay?" Mills asked Dawson worriedly and the others watched for her answer.

"Yeah, I can handle it, thanks for the help guys." Dawson smiled.

As everyone started to settle back down Matt came out of the bathroom and could sense the tension in the room. He walked over to Gabby, "It everything okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah it is now." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss and walked away. Gabby waited about 10 minutes to make sure he was gone before she started to gather the trash bags.

"Hey let me get it." Hermann said as he walked over to her.

"I've got it." Gabby smiled and headed out the side door.

After all of the action Kelly was sitting next to the Squad guys again and talking when Brett wondered over. "Hey how ya doing Brett?" Kelly called.

"I'm doing well." She gave him a smile.

"Oh, how did that case work out?" He asked referring to the mother she was trying to help get her son back.

"They're back together. It all worked out." Sylvie smiled and took a seat next to Kelly.

"Good job," He smiled, "Let me buy you a beer to celebrate." Kelly offered her.

"Yeah, that sound great," Brett sat down and took the beer Hermann brought her.

"You did a good thing," Kelly smiled at her and she grinned back.

"Thanks," She said taking a big long drink of her beer.

"So Brett tell me about yourself, how did you end up at 51?" Kelly eyed her curiously.

"My fiancée and I split up and I wanted to get out of Indiana, so here I am in Chicago. As for 51, I've always wanted to be a paramedic, since I was a kid." She grinned. "Now here I am, starting over." She looked over at Kelly.

"Fresh start." Kelly nodded and he looked over at her, his eyes travelling over her soft features.

"Fresh start." She agreed and looked into his blue eyes.

Kelly cleared his throat. "Do you want to get out of here?" Kelly asked smoothly.

"Yeah." Sylvie whispered. Kelly threw some money on the table and the two slipped out. Kelly wrapped his arm around her shoulder to keep her warm as they walked to the car. He started to unlock the door when he stopped. "What is it?" Sylvie asked.

"I thought I heard something." He shook his head and went back to the keys. Then without a doubt he heard the sound of a woman's muffled scream. Kelly looked over at Sylvie and they started to run down the street toward the panicked sound.


	24. Chapter 24

Gabby walked out the back door of Molly's which opened directly into the alley where the dumpster was. She tossed the garbage bag into the dumpster and pulled her coat around her shoulders tightly to protect against the cold Chicago wind. She turned to go inside when an arm grabbed her around her waist and a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Now I know that inside was just a show, but you were very believable, but they're gone now so we don't have to hide." Drake whispered in her ear. Gabby struggled to get away but he was strong. She tried to scream but his hand muffled it so it wasn't very loud. Drew pushed her up against the wall and started to kiss her. She kept fighting but he was using his hips to pin her legs to the wall and one hand to hold her hands above her head. "You're engaged?" He asked looking at her ring and she nodded. "Woops, well it looks like you're single." He ripped her ring off her finger and threw it. He pulled her jacket from her shoulders and threw it aside too while he continued to stick his tongue down her throat despite Gabby's efforts to pull away. He was pulling at her shirt and ripped it up the side. He was touching Gabby and she was trying her best not to cry and to just fight. His hand moved from her exposed stomach to her waistband, he was distracted by that and Gabby let out another cry for help. He quickly covered her mouth again, "Shh, this is right." He whispered. His hand returned to Gabby's leg as he pulled one around him.

Gabby was trying to kick his legs out from under him when someone knocked his body off of hers. Gabby sank to the ground crying as she heard the commotion of a fight going on a few feet away. "Dawson? Are you okay?" A familiar voice asked worried. Dawson looked up and saw Brett crouching down in front of her. Gabby curled into a ball and flinched away from her. "Whoa, it's okay, you're safe." Sylvie told her softly, then she moved away from Gabby and Kelly came into view.

"Dawson, it's okay, he's not going to hurt you anymore." Kelly put up his hands and Gabby relaxed a little but kept crying. "Go get P.D. from inside," Kelly told Sylvie, "and Casey." He yelled after her as she started to run toward the door.

Inside Molly's Matt was sitting with some other members of 51 when he heard the door open. "Lindsay, guys, we need your help." Matt turned around and saw a shaken looking Brett. As the police offices jogged out the door to whatever happened, Matt turned back around, assuming that it had nothing to do with him. "Casey." Brett called. "Come with me." She said quietly and Matt's heart dropped and he looked around for Gabby but didn't see her. He quickly stood up and Shay along with most of 51 followed him outside.

Matt quickly walked down the side of the building and as he approached he saw Kelly standing by the corner of the building and the guy who had been hitting on Gabby, Drake, being led out of the alley by Ruzek and Hallstead. Matt could hear crying and he instantly knew who it was. "You son of a bitch." Matt spat at him as he ran into him and knocked the man to the ground. Hallstead and Ruzek were trying to pull Matt off of Drake but he got a few good punches as his blood boiled in his veins. Kelly ran over and helped them pull Casey off the man. Casey is strong and it took a lot of effort to get him off the other man and even then he was trying to kick him.

The guys from 51 held him back as Hallstead and Ruzek pulled up Drake and passed him off to a uniformed officer who was waiting. "It was worth it." He smirked at Matt, "she's a good one."

Matt lunged for him again but the guys held him back. "I'll kill you." He threatened as he struggled against their grip. Once Drake was in the police car, the guys released their grip on him.

"Casey," Shay called and he snapped out of his fury and looked over to see Shay clutching a terrified Gabby.

Matt quickly walked over to them and his eyes filled with tears at the sight of her tear soaked face and ripped shirt. "Gabby." Matt cried as he made it to them. She folded her arms into his chest and sobbed as he wrapped his strong arms around her. "Gabby." He whispered into her hair as she sobbed and her trembling legs threatened to give out. "Gabby, I've got you; it's all going to be okay." A few tears escaped his eyes and Gabby moved her hand up his chest.

"My- my ring—is- is gone." She gasped in between sobs. "He- threw- threw it."

Matt looked down at her bare hand, "I'll find it." He told her, his voice thick with tears and his heart aching for the love of his life. The rip in Gabby's shirt went from her hip and exposed her bra, Matt could see her scar too and he pulled away from her and peeled off his jacket. "Here." He said as he wrapped it around her to warm her up.

"Dawson, can we ask you a few questions?" Lindsay asked softly as she and Burgess approached them.

Matt instinctively tightened his arms around her but Gabby pulled away and turned around to face the two officers. "Yeah," she nodded. Matt stepped out from behind her and looked at her expectantly with sympathetic eyes. "Um, can you go and please look for my ring." Gabby asked Matt.

"Of course." He nodded and quickly planted a soft kiss on Gabby's head. Matt walked off in search of Gabby's missing ring.

"You didn't want him over here?" Lindsay asked as Gabby watched him walk away.

"No," she shook her head, "He would just get mad."

"Ok. Well can you tell us what happened?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

After Gabby told her story to the officers she was about to go over to Matt when she saw a speeding car pull up to the curb and Antonio jumped out. "Gabby, are you okay?" he called as he ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Yeah," she said as she pulled out of his grip. Just then Matt walked over to them.

"Good news," he smiled and held up her engagement ring.

"Oh my god, you found it!" Gabby yelled and threw her arms around Matt's neck and gave him a kiss. "Thank you." She said as he put it back on her finger. Gabby nuzzled her face into Matt's shoulder and he gave her a hug.

"Let's take you inside, it's cold out here." Matt said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her inside. Antonio followed them and once they were inside Gabby walked back behind the bar.

Most of the people had left after the incident and Hermann walked up to Gabby. "Go on home; I'll wrap things up here." Gabby opened her mouth to protest but Hermann stopped her, "Go on, I can handle things here." He said and Gabby surrendered.

"Thanks Hermann." She said as she grabbed her purse and walked out of the bar. Matt unlocked the truck and she climbed in.

"I'll be right back." He told her before he walked up to Kelly who was just getting finished with a police interview. "Kelly, I can't thank you enough." Matt said as he gave Kelly a quick hug.

"No need, we've all got Dawson's back." He told Matt. "Get on home." Kelly gave Matt a small smile and Matt walked away.

"Bye sis." Antonio said as he gave Gabby a hug and shut her door. "Matt, I'll make sure this guy rots." Antonio said, his anger finally bubbling to the surface.

"You won't hear any complaints over here." Matt told him.

"Good now go take care of Gabby, she needs you." He told Matt.

"I will." Matt answered as the two men parted ways. Matt climbed in the driver's seat and started the engine. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw Kelly and Brett getting into Kelly's car, he shook his head and pulled his seat belt and clicked it into place.

Gabby suddenly scooted over and buckled the middle seat belt on her lap. She laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped one arm around her. Once they got home they went inside and Matt made sure all of the locks were tight before he followed her to bed. He slipped off his shirt and jeans and slid in behind Gabby. He pulled her into his arms; she had changed out of her ripped clothes and into one of his shirts. "I'm so glad you're safe," He sighed into her ear.

"Thank you," she sighed "I love you." She whispered as she started to cry again.

"I love you, too." He answered as he held her and let her cry out all of her fear from the night.


	25. Chapter 25

Neither Gabby nor Matt got much sleep that night. After Gabby stopped crying she just lay silently awake, she couldn't fall asleep and neither could Matt because he was so worried about Gabby.

The next morning Gabby woke up from a short period of fitful sleep. "Morning." Matt whispered once he knew she was awake.

"Morning," she mumbled back.

"Are you okay to go to work today?" He asked carefully.

"Yeah," Gabby smiled as she rolled over to face him, "I just want to put it behind us." Gabby leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Okay," Matt sighed. "I just want to keep my family safe." He smiled and planted a passionate kiss on Gabby's lips to combat her sweet one.

Gabby laughed into his lips as she returned the kiss. Once Matt pulled away he stared into her brown eyes, his blue ones full of love and compassion. "I love you." She mouthed to him.

"I love you too." He whispered back and kissed her forehead softly. Then Matt suddenly grabbed Gabby's hips and pulled her up on top on him. She laughed and sat perched on his lap with a hand on either side of his head. "I love you." He said a little louder this time. Gabby leaned down and kissed Matt on the lips. He moved his hands from her hips and to her back and when she started to lean up from the kiss he pulled her back down into his chest. "I wish we could stay here all day." He sighed into her hair.

"I know." She sighed back, as he released her. "But we have to go to work; there will only be so much longer that I will be able to actually work." Gabby said as Matt laid his hands on her slowly growing baby bump.

"Well it'll all be for a good reason," He smiled at her.

"Yeah, well we better get up." She sighed and hopped out of bed.

"Ok, I guess you're right." He sighed and followed her into the kitchen. After they got ready they climbed into Matt's truck and headed to 51. Once they were there Matt went and took his spot at the table and Gabby headed off to find Shay.

Kelly walked into the room and took the chair next to Matt. "So how's Dawson?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I think she's okay." Matt gave Kelly a small smile and Kelly nodded his head in relief. "So, how's Brett." Matt asked his voice at a whisper as he watched Kelly out of the corner of his eye.

"You caught that did you?" Kelly smiled. "Yeah, she's… good, I guess." Kelly smiled. "I don't know, she was different man."

"What not like all of your other one night stands?" Matt snickered at Kelly as he poked fun at him.

"No, she wasn't." Kelly said staring down his coffee.

Matt laughed, "Well all I can say is be careful, you guys have to work together and in house relationships can be tricky."

"Yeah, thanks, advice from someone with experience." Kelly snickered back. "So," he stated, "changing the subject. When do you want me to throw you the world's best bachelor party?" Kelly asked enthusiastically. Matt looked at him and made a face. "And I am throwing you a bachelor party!" Kelly told him.

"Do we have to, I mean isn't that kind of for men happy to leave their single days?" Matt asked him.

"It is actually for your best friend who needs to say good bye to his drinking buddy." Kelly laughed at Matt and patted him on the back.

"Hey, there are plenty of unmarried guys and my wife to be does own the bar you drink at, so I will be there." Matt stated.

"Yeah until you get too excited with changing diapers and wiping noses to come and drink with us." Kelly teased Matt.

"That will be a very good possibility, and speaking of." Matt reached into his pocket and pulled out the new ultrasound photo. "He's growing fast." Matt smiled and handed the picture to Kelly.

"So it's a boy?" Kelly asked.

"Well, we don't know yet but that's just my prediction." Matt smiled as Kelly gave him the picture back. "Out of everything happening to us this is by far the best." Matt grinned and looked longingly at the picture.

"Really, all joking aside, I'm happy for you guys," Matt smiled at Kelly.

"Thanks man, I couldn't do any of this without the help of my friends." Matt told him gratefully.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Down the hall Gabby finished emptying the content of her stomach into the toilet and she stood up. As she walked out of the stall Shay walked into the bathroom. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked Gabby worriedly.

"Yeah, no worries, just feeling a little morning sickness this morning." Shay narrowed her eyes at Gabby like she didn't believe her. "Really Shay, just morning sickness." Gabby reassured and Shay was starting to believe her.

"Okay, so are you up for some wedding planning?" The blond asked enthusiastically and Dawson laughed.

"Of course." Gabby laughed with her friend as they walked to Gabby's locker to get the magazines and the to do list. There were a lot of things left on the list and only about a month and a half to finish the list. "We better get going if we want to get all of this stuff done in time." Gabby chuckled nervously.

"Have I ever failed you with anything like this?" Shay asked her and she shook her head no. "Then quit worrying about this. It will all work out, so don't stress." Shay laughed and the girls headed out to their table. "I could plan this entire wedding now starting from scratch and make it fabulous." Shay informed her and she laughed and relaxed a little.

"I know Shay; it's just crazy to think that I'm planning my wedding." Gabby grinned at Shay.

"I know my little Dawson's all grown up." Shay said in a voice like she was choked up as she reached out to pinch Gabby's cheek.

"Quit." Gabby laughed as she shooed Shay's hand away. As soon as the girls got to the table and put their things down, the bells rang and they ran outside to the ambulance.


	26. Chapter 26

**Four Weeks Later**

Gabby and Matt got off shift one morning and were walking out to Matt's truck hand in hand. "So, are you excited?" Matt asked her as he squeezed her hand. It was two weeks until the wedding and Matt and Gabby were going to buy wedding bands before Gabby went to go dress shopping.

"Yes!" She laughed as she swung their arms by her side. Gabby opened the passenger door of the truck and climbed over to the middle seat so she and Matt could be closer. Matt quickly drove to the same jewelry store that Matt bought Gabby's engagement ring at. Gabby opened the door and walked inside and over to the ring case. The sales woman walked over to them and asked if there was anything she could do. "We are looking for wedding bands," Gabby said while she peered down into the case. "Ooh can I see that one?" she asked as she pointed to a beautiful but simple silver ring.

"Ah, beautiful choice." the women smiled and pulled the ring out of the case. She passed it over to Gabby and she carefully examined it and then held it up for Matt to see. It was the same color silver as her engagement ring and it had beautiful etching that was elegant but was perfectly designed for the ring.

"I love it," Gabby smiled and she slipped the ring on her finger and looked at it next to her engagement ring.

"It looks great babe, do you like it?" Matt asked her and she shook her head yes.

"I absolutely love it, it's perfect." She smiled and Matt grinned at her.

"One down." He smiled and she nodded. Matt and Gabby walked down to the men's rings after Gabby had the ring she decided on sized. Matt looked into the case for a moment before he pointed at one. "What do you think about this one?" he looked to Gabby as the woman unlocked the case and pulled the ring out. It was black and rounded on the outside and Matt slipped it part way onto his large finger. He looked down at it and then to Gabby. They both had a similar look on their face and Matt took it off and handed it back to the saleswoman.

"Look at that one." Gabby said and pointed at a titanium flat band.

"That was actually the one I wanted to see next." Matt smiled and took it from the woman. He slid it on and it was a perfect fit. It was a simple, smooth titanium band with a matte finish and a simple etching on it that was similar to the one on Gabby's ring but more masculine. Gabby's ring was sitting on the counter and Matt picked it up and slipped it on her finger and held his ring next to hers. "I like it." He smiled.

"It's a perfect match," she grinned. As she laced her fingers through his and admired the rings. "Are these the ones?" Gabby asked Matt.

"These are the ones." He grinned at her. They paid for the rings and left the store and Matt gave Gabby a kiss as they walked to the truck.

"Can you take these home?" Gabby asked handing Matt the two ring boxes.

"Yeah, I'll drop them off." He paused and started the truck. He looked over at her, "actually can you give them to Shay or something?" Gabby looked over at him confused.

"Yeah, okay." She said apprehensively.

"I guess I should tell you why." He smiled at her, "The house is ready, besides the nursery and I am going to start packing." Gabby smiled and leaned over to give Matt a kiss.

"I'll come and help you as soon as I can." Gabby told him with a smile.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Go have fun if I have anything to say about it, you'll only be getting married once so only one wedding dress." He smiled and Gabby kissed him again. Matt put the truck in drive and pulled away from the curb. He took Gabby to Shay and Kelly's and she stopped at the driver's side window before she went inside.

"I love you." She smiled and kissed him through the window.

Matt gently placed his hand on Gabby's cheek, "I love you too, and have fun." He told her as he gave her a passionate kiss. Gabby smiled and walked toward the front door, before she even got there Shay opened the door and ushered Gabby inside.

"The others aren't here yet." Shay said as Gabby followed her into the living room. Dawson could hear Kelly talking as she got closer.

"Morning Kelly, - Brett." Gabby said puzzled when she saw Sylvie standing next to Kelly who was sitting on a barstool.

"Oh hey Dawson." Brett smiled and handed Kelly a coffee mug.

"Morning Dawson, do you want some coffee?" Kelly asked.

"Oh no thanks, Matt says it's bad for the baby." Gabby said and then looked over at Shay. "We are going to start moving into the house and I was wondering if you could watch our rings until the wedding or things are settled."

"Yeah, of course." Shay said as she took the boxes from Gabby and walked into her room to hide them in a lock box in her bedside table drawer. Moments later the other girls arrived and they headed to the bridal shop. Gabby, Shay, Laura, Eva, Christy, and Violet entered the salon in search of dresses for all of them. First they started with Gabby's dress so they could make sure the others matched her somewhat. The enthusiastic sales consultant came over to talk to the group.

"So, tell me a little bit about yourselves." She smiled at them.

"Well, I'm Gabby, the bride," she smiled and then turned to the others, "This is Shay, my best friend and maid of honor, Laura is my sister-in-law, Christy is my future sister-in-law and then there is one other who couldn't make it today, but they are my bridesmaids and then this is my future niece Violet and niece Eva and they are flower girls and we need all of our dresses today." Gabby smiled as she pointed out each of the girls.

"Ok Gabby, can you tell me a little bit about your fiancé?" The woman asked her.

"His name is Matthew Casey, Matt and he is a firefighter. He's amazing, we actually met on the job; I'm a paramedic at the same house." Gabby beamed as she told the woman about Matt.

"Well, what kind of wedding are you imagining?" She asked Gabby.

"We are planning more of a rustic and vintage wedding. We have a beautiful outdoor venue on the edge of the city." Gabby explained.

"Ok and finally what kind of dress do you see yourself in?"

Gabby thought for a minute before she spoke. "I like A-line dresses and I want to try to find something with lace, but other than that I am pretty open minded."

The woman smiled at her. "I think I will have no problem finding you a dress, so let's get started."


	27. Chapter 27

The group of girls waited as Gabby was taken back to try on some dresses. At first she walked out in an elegant form fitting lace dress that had a jewel belt around her waist. "What do you guys think?" She gazed in the mirror at the dress, it fell over her body beautifully but she was a little unsure.

"It looks pretty," Laura said as she looked around to the other girls who all nodded their heads yes.

"I definitely want to see more, but this could be a possibility." Shay said and the others all agreed.

"I think I want something that isn't so form fitting because I'm going to have a bigger baby bump at the wedding." Gabby looked around to her group and they all agreed with her.

She returned to the dressing room and proceeded to put on a dress that flared out just below her breasts. The dress was stunning but it didn't have that something special she was looking for. After numerous more dresses Gabby was having fun but getting frustrated at the same time. After another rejected dress Gabby went into the dressing room and put one more on.

She put on a pure white A-line dress; it had a strapless sweet heart neckline and folds that accentuated her upper body, flared out at her waist and disappeared by the time they made it to the floor, leaving a simple white skirt. Gabby looked in the mirror and grinned, she had never imagined something this simple would be her wedding dress, but she never would have guessed any of the things that have happened to her. "I love it." Gabby whispered as tears came to her eyes, it finally hit her, she was marrying Matt Casey. Matt Casey, who had been off limits for so long and it killed her but as she started to move on they were thrown back together and they just stuck. Gabby realized that she and Matt were meant to be together, with them and their little baby; they were going to be alright, no matter what.

Gabby finally turned around and looked at the other's faces, they were all awestruck. "That is absolutely beautiful Dawson." Shay said as she got up and walked over to her. "So, is this the one?" She asked a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"Yeah," Gabby smiled, "I think it was made for me." The women got up excitedly and all gave Gabby a hug telling her how beautiful she looked.

"Matt is going to go crazy when he sees you." Christy laughed as she hugged Gabby.

"I hope so I can't wait to see his face." Gabby laughed as she took one last look in the mirror. "I should go change; we still have a bit of shopping to do."

Fifteen minutes later they found their way to the bridesmaid section and started to rifle through dresses. Gabby chose the ones she liked and the girls all took a few for each of them to try on. The process was quick because Gabby had so many models. They made it through 8 dresses when Shay came walking out in a floor length navy blue dress. There were folds on the top similar, but not identical to Gabby's, and a belt around the waist which the dress fell simply to the floor underneath. There was a sweet heart neckline with lace cap sleeves that came up and around her shoulders and met in the middle and created a keyhole back. "Oh Shay I love it." Gabby smiled.

"I do too," She looked into the mirror. The other girls started to come out of the changing rooms and they all agreed the dress Shay had was the best.

"Okay so five down two to go." Gabby smiled as they walked to the children's department to look for flower girls' dresses. It didn't take long because there was a limited number of options and the girls both agreed on a simple knee length white dress with spaghetti straps a navy belt that match the bridesmaids.

The girls had a wonderful lunch with lots of laughs and they said goodbye and went their separate ways when Gabby and Shay started to get tired after their long shift. Shay drove Gabby home and when she went inside Matt was packing the china from the cabinet into a box. "Hey," He smiled when he saw her. "So, did you find a dress?" He stopped packing and walked over to her.

"Yes, we all did." She smiled and gave him a kiss. "You're going to love it."

"So do you have a picture, can I see it?" He asked curiously.

"Absolutely not," She said as she passed him and walked into the bedroom, "Don't you know that's bad luck." She scolded as she changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

"All right, all right," he put his hands up in defeat "I only have to wait fourteen more days, I can do that." He smiled and pulled Gabby into his arms before she could put a shirt on. "Are you tired?" He asked her softly.

"Yeah," She whispered back.

"Come here." He smiled and pulled her into bed he covered them up, took off his shirt and pulled Gabby in close. "One of the best things late at night, when we're laying here like this, is being able to feel you're warm skin on mine and your breathing." Matt sighed as he kissed Gabby's hair.

"You're so weird, but I love how you noticed that." She smiled and kissed Matt's collarbone. "I'm glad you left me my socks, my feet are getting cold," Matt pulled away and looked at her hurt. "Just the logistics and the idea that everyone will be watching me freaks me out. I just want to marry you, everything else makes me nervous." She sighed into his chest as he chuckled.

"Don't scare me like that," He sighed, "I couldn't let you back out now." She looked at him puzzled as to what he meant. "I don't want anything except you and this baby, if you tried to leave, it would break my heart." He sighed softly.

"Trust me Matt; you would have to try extremely hard to get me to leave." She smiled and he kissed her forehead and sighed.

"I love you baby. I don't know what I would do without you." He mumbled.

"I love you too." Gabby smiled and then she slipped in to a peaceful sleep on Matt's warm chest.


	28. Chapter 28

**One Week later**

Matt walked into the kitchen and Gabby was standing at the stove making breakfast. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach. She jumped and then relaxed into his arms when she realized it was him. "Good morning." He sighed, "Did I wake you up?"

"No" she sighed back, "I was hungry." She chuckled. "Why are you up so early?"

"I wanted to take the last of the boxes over to the new house before shift. Kelly is going to come help me move the bed after we get off tomorrow." Gabby divided the eggs on plates and gave Matt some.

"I can help you move it; you know I did make it through the academy." Gabby looked up at him shyly.

"I know," he put his hand over her arm. "I just don't want you to do anything that could possibly hurt the baby." She smiled at him now. "Go get ready I'll clean up." He told her and she left. Matt cleaned the kitchen and loaded the boxes in the back of his truck. He went into the bedroom where Gabby was finishing getting ready, "I'm going to head out." He told her and gave her a kiss.

"Okay, I'll see you at work." She smiled and returned the kiss.

Matt looked down in her eyes and grinned. "One week." He laid his hand over the side of her neck and pulled her close. "I can't wait."

"Yeah, one week until I can rob you." Gabby laughed and Matt looked at her confused. "I'm stealing your last name."

Matt laughed and kissed Gabby again. "I would be honored to give it to you." He laughed and gave her a hug. "I'm going to head out. I'll see you later." He smiled and walked out of the door to drop off the boxes.

Once he got to the house Matt put the boxes where they went and as he was carrying in the last box his phone started to ring. He sat the box on the kitchen counter and pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Hey Antonio."

"Hey Matt, sorry to call you this early." Antonio apologized.

"No problem, I'm just bringing the last of the boxes over to the new house. So what's up?" Matt asked as he started to rifle through the box in front of him.

"Look, I didn't want to tell Gabby but we had to let Drake, the guy who attacked her, out." Matt was speechless as Antonio continued. "He was awaiting trial and was able to scrape together bail so we had to let him go."

Matt was fuming with anger, "So he can just attack my pregnant fiancé and get away with it! What is stopping him from coming back to Molly's or tracking Gabby down and hurting her again, what if he tries to kill her!" Matt was yelling now as Antonio tried hopelessly to calm him down.

"I don't like this either Matt, I just want Gabby safe and I know that's what you want too. I don't think he will do anything, just be on the lookout." Antonio told Matt calmly.

Matt let out a sigh, "Yeah, fine. I'll always keep her safe."

"I know you will I didn't want to tell Gabby because she is busy enough with the wedding." Antonio told him. "He's not going to get away with this so relax and I'll see you at your bachelor party." Antonio let out a chuckle but Matt was not in a good mood.

"Okay, thanks Antonio. I'll talk to you then." Matt hung up the phone and put his hands on the counter. He clenched his fists in anger and ran a hand through his hair. Matt looked up and saw that he had twenty minutes until shift started so he went to his truck and drove to the house.

Matt was one of the first ones to arrive and he put his things in his locker and took the chair at the head of the table. He was hunched a cup of coffee and it was obvious by the brooding look on his face that he wasn't in the talking mood.

Gabby walked by the common room with Shay, who was laughing at a story she was telling, Gabby looked in the room and saw Matt sitting there and she knew he was mad about something. "Can we finish this later?" Gabby asked worriedly, Shay looked over and saw Casey and nodded yes. Dawson walked into the common room and tentatively took a seat by Matt and he didn't even look up. "Matt, are you okay?" She whispered.

"I'm fine." He huffed.

"Are you sure?" She asked earnestly.

"I'm fine!" He snapped again. Gabby was taken aback by his hostility.

"Okay" she whispered as her eyes started to water. Matt noticed her reaction and his heart sank.

"Gabby, I'm sorry." He said but Gabby was already up and walking out the door toward the locker room. Matt got up to follow her but Hermann stopped him.

"Everything okay lieutenant?" Hermann questioned and Matt brushed him aside.

"Not now Hermann." Matt quickly followed in the direction Gabby went. He entered the locker room and searched for her. When he couldn't find her he looked in the sleeping quarters and every other place he could think to look. Finally Matt pushed through the back door and out into the back parking lot. Gabby was leaning against the building a few feet away from the door. She was behind a corner to protect herself from the brisk breeze and Matt almost missed her. "Gab." Matt breathed as his heart shattered. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was sniffling and brushing the tears out from under her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you." He sighed as he took a step toward her. She cringed into the wall and then fell into Matt's arms. He supported her as she buried her face in his chest and let her tears fall onto his shirt.

"I'm sorry too. I'm seriously over reacting and I don't know why." She hiccupped as she said this and Matt tightened his arms around her. She relaxed into his strong, warm embrace and cried out a few more tears.

"You're stressed because of the wedding and your hormones are probably out of balance with the baby and I'm not doing any good by taking out my frustration on you." Matt kissed her forehead and she sighed into his chest. "I love you."

"I love you too." She mumbled, "Why are you so frustrated?" She asked him innocently.

He opened his mouth trying to decide what the best thing to tell her was. Before he could say anything the bells went off and they ran around the building and through the garage door. Matt let go of Gabby's hand after he gave it a quick squeeze and went to 81.

Once on scene Matt went over to a car that had gone careening into a stop light. "Just the driver, he looks a little banged up. I need a hallagan, he's pinned in." Matt called over the radio and everyone went to work. Matt got the door opened and Shay and Dawson came over to check on the man.

"Get away from me!" He yelled at Shay as she tried to help him. He shoved her and got out of the car. You could smell the alcohol on his breath as the girls tried to restrain him.

"Hey! We're trying to help you sir." Dawson said as she put her hand on his shoulder to put him against the car.

"I'm fine!" He yelled at her and shoved her twice as hard as he shoved Shay and she fell into Otis.

"What the hell!" Matt yelled at him and shoved him back against the car. "They're trying to help you." Matt snapped. He held the man back as Shay tried to clean a cut on his head.

"Let me go!" He yelled and started thrashing. The man lashed out and his fist connected with Matt's face. Matt fell back and the other guys grabbed the drunken man and handed him over to the police officers who just arrived.

"Matt." Gabby walked over to him as he rubbed his jaw. "Let me see," He stood up and Gabby sighed. "Ugg, he busted your lip. Come here." Gabby sighed and pulled him into the ambulance.

"It'll be okay." He sighed as she made him sit down. Gabby wiped the blood off of his chin as she examined the cut.

"You don't need stitches. But right before the wedding." Gabby sighed and Matt could tell that she was starting to worry again.

"It'll be okay." He said again as he put a hand on her cheek.

"Your chin is swelling." She sighed. "Keep this on there and when we get back I'll find you some chap stick to keep on the cut, but until then…" Gabby trailed off as she rubbed some cream on the cut and pressed an icepack to his chin. "That's all I can do." She sighed as she moves Matt's chin for a better look.

"Thank you Gabby." He said as he squeezed her hand.

"Take care of that." She sighed as he jumped out of the ambulance and walked over to the truck and climbed in.

"What can't take a punch lieutenant?" Cruz joked as Matt climbed in.

"Gabby is mad because she wants it to be healed by the wedding." Matt sighed and shut the door. "I'll listen to what she tells me to do." Cruz laughed and Matt scowled at him, "As long as she's happy tease away."

Hermann laughed from the back of the truck. "Get used to that, it's the secret to a happy marriage."

"That's fine with me." He smiled as they rode back to the house.


	29. Chapter 29

Matt woke up on the morning of September 20th, the day before the wedding. Gabby was still asleep and Matt looked around the big room. They had been staying in their new house for almost a week and they loved it there. It was beautiful with plenty of room for two, soon to be three. Matt stretched and wrapped his arms around Gabby's stomach; she let out a groan and sunk into Matt's embrace. "So, what is on the itinerary today?" Matt asked. For the past few days they had been doing nothing but decorating for the wedding and today was the rehearsal dinner.

"We need to take all of the clothes over to the hall and put the finishing touches on the reception area." Gabby yawned. Matt kissed the back of her head as he rubbed the bump on her stomach.

"I'm so ready to marry you." Matt laughed. He rolled Gabby over and started to kiss her. He kissed her nose and she giggled as the doorbell rang. "Ugg no go away." Matt groaned and closed his eyes.

"It's probably Shay." Gabby said as she started to get up.

"Nope, I've got it." He said as he kissed Gabby and playfully pushed her back into bed. She laughed and Matt got up and grabbed a shirt as he walked down the hall. Matt walked down the stairs and opened the front door. Shay and Kelly were standing there and Matt happily welcomed them in. "Hey guys." Matt smiled, "Gabby is upstairs." He told Shay and she headed up as he and Kelly walked into the kitchen. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Yes please." Kelly laughed, "Shay was up first thing this morning and insisted that we come over early." Matt laughed and handed Kelly a cup.

"Just you wait; if you ever get married I hope her best friend is as energetic as Shay." Matt sighed as he took a drink from his own cup.

"That's not possible." Kelly laughed and Matt agreed, "So are you ready for tonight?" Kelly's eyes lit up with excitement.

"As long as I get to the wedding in one piece then yeah I'm excited." Matt laughed.

"And you're not too hung-over." Gabby laughed as she walked up behind Matt.

"And not too hung-over." Matt added looking at Kelly and laughing.

"Morning Dawson." Kelly greeted.

Matt wrapped his arm around the upper part of Gabby's shoulders and pulled her into his chest. "Get the last of that name out of your system she's going to be a Casey tomorrow." Matt laughed as he kissed the side of her head.

"Two Casey's that's not going to be confusing." Shay laughed sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"Get over it." Gabby smiled as she took Matt's cup and took a sip.

"What did I tell you?" Matt scolded and Gabby just rolled her eyes. "Shay you must know something about this so please tell her coffee is bad during pregnancy."

"One sip won't hurt." Gabby whined as Matt stole the cup back when she wasn't paying attention.

"He's right because one sip leads to an entire cup." Shay told her and Gabby rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, we have things to do." Gabby grabbed Shay's wrist and led her into the living room where there were numerous mason jars full of flowers for the centerpieces. "We have to get these finished." Gabby said as she plopped down on the couch and pulled a jar into her lap. Shay took a seat beside her and started on her own jar.

"What do you want us to do?" Matt asked.

Gabby looked around the room. "Can you load those finished jars into the car and put your suit and whatever you need to get ready in there too." Matt nodded and he and Kelly started to collect the finished jars.

"Have you packed yet?" He asked when he was halfway out the door.

"It would be helpful to know where I'm going." She yelled after him and he stopped and turned back.

"No way." He smiled and Shay stood up.

Shay put her finished jar into Matt's arms. "I've got this." She winked at Gabby and headed up the stairs to the bedroom.

"She knows?!" Gabby pouted.

"Do you want me picking your outfits?" Matt asked and Gabby gave in.

"Fine," She smiled "Get back to work."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a long day and an exhausting rehearsal dinner it was getting late and Matt and Gabby were still sitting around and talking in the banquet hall. There were only a few people left when Kelly came walking over to them. "Okay, let's go." Kelly said smiling.

Matt turned to Gabby and gave her a big hug. "Do I have to go?" He whispered quietly in her ear.

"Go on, have fun." Gabby smiled and tried to push away from Matt and he just tightened his grip.

"She'll still be here tomorrow!" Kelly called, "Let's go!" He laughed.

Matt let out a sigh and stepped away from Gabby. "I love you." He said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss.

"I love you too." She smiled and he gave her another kiss.

"I'm going to miss you." He kissed her and gave her one final hug. "Take care of this little guy." Matt said as he put his hand on Gabby's stomach.

"We'll be fine!" Gabby laughed, "Go have fun." She told him and pushed him away. Matt gave her a final kiss on the head before Kelly started to drag him away.

"I'll take care of her." Shay smiled and looped her arm around Gabby's waist.

"You better keep those feet warm!" Matt called back as Kelly finally pulled him out of the building.

Kelly laughed, "I don't know why you are going on a honeymoon, I mean you have a bed here."

"Ha ha." Matt said as he climbed into Kelly's car. "So where are we going?" he asked as Severide started the car.

"Oh just wait and see. I promise it'll be great." Kelly smiled at him coyly as he pulled away from the curb.


	30. Chapter 30

As Kelly drove them down the highway Matt pulled his phone out and opened a text to Gabby. _"Next time I see you we will be getting married." _He sent the message and tucked the phone under his leg.

_"Crazy right?" _She answered and Matt smiled at his phone.

Before Matt could answer Kelly noticed what he was doing. "No way man, this is your last night of freedom! Give me your phone no texting your almost wife." Kelly held out his hand for Matt's phone.

_"I've been caught. Goodnight I'll see you tomorrow I love you." _Matt typed quickly as he turned his phone over to Kelly. He put it in his jacket pocket and Matt sat back.

"You're going to have a good time, I promise." Kelly smiled and pulled off of the highway. Kelly took a few more turns and then pulled onto a darkened street and parked the car.

"Where are we?" Matt asked as he looked around the street.

"At the party." Kelly laughed as Matt's door was pulled open and Otis, Mills, Cruz, Antonio and Hermann pulled Matt out of the car.

"Come on!" One voice called. "Let's move!" Yelled another, Matt stumbled out onto the curb and the guys pulled him up a set of metal stairs and into a brick building. Matt was laughing as he looked around the room lit with colorful neon lights so it had a blue hue. There was a pool table and a bar along with a couple of couches and two more doors.

"Where are we?" He asked as he walked the room.

"I know a guy." Kelly smiled and walked behind the bar. "Okay guys before you all get wasted I have a toast to make." He handed a shot to each of the guys, "To Casey, we wish you guys the best, we're always going to be here for you guys. Good luck man." Kelly smiled and everyone downed their shots.

"Thanks guys I wouldn't be here without you." Matt smiled and downed another shot. Just then the doorbell rang and all the guys let out a cheer and Matt just looked around confused. Otis ran over and opened the door.

"Right this way ladies welcome to club 51!" He cheered. Three women walked in and Matt rolled his eyes and looked at Kelly.

"Really?" He asked.

"Hey I know you have a thing for firefighters." Kelly laughed because all three of the women we dressed in their skimpy version of turnout gear and they were each carrying their own fake tool.

"So who's the groom?" One of them called out and the others all pointed to Casey and pushed him to the front.

The woman laced her hands around Matt's neck, "I need another drink." He sighed and the woman grabbed a glass from behind him and handed it to Matt.

"We're just here to have a good time." She hissed as she put her helmet onto Matt's head and the other girls came over and started to run their hands over Matt's arms. "So, you're a real firefighter? That's hot." She started to kiss Matt's neck and he stiffened.

"Relax man," Kelly laughed. "This is your one free pass, enjoy it!" He yelled and the others agreed.

Matt sighed and looked to Antonio. "Not a word to Gabby." He ordered and Antonio motioned that his lips were sealed. The woman kissed her way up Matt's neck and he relaxed a little.

Hermann was behind the bar and they all spread out across the room. They were drinking and having a good time, the girls were working their way around the room while one stayed perched on Matt's lap the entire time.

After a few drinks the guy's memories started to get fuzzy. Their laughing was loud and the music was louder. The girls were antagonizing each of the guys and one found her way over to Matt and started to kiss him. His breath smelled of alcohol and his vision was fuzzy. The fake helmet was falling over his eyes as this girl kissed him. "Gabby," he sighed out and the girl snickered.

"Are you having fun hon." She asked and Matt shook his head yes and she started to dance to the music again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning Matt woke up hanging halfway off of the couch with the helmet over his eyes. The girls were gone and there were bodies lying around the apartment. When he realized what was going on he fell off the couch and stood up. His head was pounding and he went into the bathroom and swallowed a few ibuprofens. He looked over and saw Otis and Mills sleeping in the bathtub together. He chuckled and walked into the living room again. Cruz was asleep by the wall, Antonio was on the pool table, Hermann was on the floor behind the bar and Kelly was sitting against the wall in the bedroom closet.

Matt stepped over Hermann and got a drink of water and went to wake the guys up, but not before taking pictures of them all to threaten them with if they tried to tell anyone what they remembered. First Matt kicked Hermann and he stood up with a groan, then he got Antonio up and off of the table, then Kelly and Cruz and they all went to laugh at Mills and Otis curled up in the tub.

Mills woke up first and drug himself out of the tub, "Uh, what happened last night." He groaned and the others just laughed.

"Plenty of partying." Kelly moaned and walked out to the living room. "Crap, man aren't we supposed to be at the hall by 12?" Kelly asked and Matt told him yes. "Well it's 11:55! We've got to go wake up sleeping beauty over there. We're going to be late." He said pointing at Otis.

The guys all scrambled out and into their cars. The hung-over group was five minutes away when Matt's phone started to buzz. "It's Shay." He said worriedly before he answered.

"Are you people alive?" She questioned immediately.

"Yeah, we're almost there." He said.

"You're fifteen minutes late!" She gripped.

"We just pulled up outside okay." He said getting out of the car. Shay walked out of the doors and looked the guys over.

"Thank god you didn't get yourselves into too much trouble." She ushered the group into their area for dressing. "Okay, groomsmen pictures are at 1:00, bridesmaids at 2:00 and wedding at 3:00 so you need to be in your spot at 2:50, and no spying on the bride, got it?" She said and he nodded.

"Shay," Matt stopped her, "tell Gabby good morning and I love her. Okay?" Matt said and she smiled and walked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Over in the women's room Gabby was getting nervous but grinned when Shay told her the message from Matt. She was standing at the table doing Violet's hair when Heather and Laura told Diego, Griffin, and Ben to go over to the men's room. "Oh wait Ben," Gabby said. She grabbed a pen and a paper and wrote _"I love you too. Are you ready for this?" _"Give this to Matt for me." She told the boy and he dutifully walked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The door opened and Matt looked over to see the young Darden boys and he started to grin. "Hey guys! I've missed you." He called as they ran over and gave him a hug.

"This is from Gabby." Ben said and handed him the folded paper.

"Thanks bud." Matt read it and grinned, "Yes I am," he whispered under his breath as he started to get dressed.


	31. Chapter 31

Matt and the groom's men were dressed up and had taken their pictures and they were standing in the area behind the chairs. Matt was wringing his hands and pacing back and forth. There was a freestanding wall between them and the guests so when Matt was at the alter he wouldn't be able to see Gabby right away.

"Calm down man," Antonio laughed at him, "What you afraid she's going to run off?" Matt shook his head at him.

"Don't even joke man." Matt sighed as he straightened his boutonniere. Shay came walking up to them and Matt let out a sigh and continued to pace.

"Are you ready?" She squealed and approached him. She started to straighten his tie and smooth his coat again.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Matt walked away from Shay and started to wring his hands again. "Is Gabby this nervous?" He chuckled. "Who am I kidding she's the strongest, bravest, most beautiful woman in the world why would she be nervous." Matt rambled.

"Casey calm down," Kelly laughed, "you've got this."

"Yes you do," Shay smiled, "Now it's time for you to get out there." She patted him on the back and opened the door a little ways.

Matt took a deep breath and started the walk to the alter. He stood there for a few minutes bouncing nervously as he waited. A few minutes later one of the doors opened and Kelly walked in, he signaled for Matt to come with him. Matt took a few steps and then saw Shay motioning for Matt too. He started to walk quicker and Kelly met him half way. "Is Gabby okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah just come here." Kelly said and Matt obeyed.

A few steps from the door Shay stepped out and covered Matt's eyes. "No peeking, come here." Shay maneuvered Matt and pressed his back against a hard surface. She removed her hand from his eyes and grabbed his arm and pulled it around the door. His hand met another soft warm palm. A sweet scent trailed up his nose and he instantly smiled.

"Gabby." He croaked out.

"Matt," she sighed and squeezed his hand. He could hear the emotion in her voice.

"Baby," he whispered, "I love you, I've missed you. How's the baby doing this morning?" he blurted out all at once.

She chuckled, "He missed you," She paused before she continued. "I felt him kick last night."

"Really!" He gasped, "I want to kiss you so bad right now." He moaned. "I love you so, so much." He squeezed her hand.

"I want to hug you so badly right now, you're always so warm." She laughed. "I love you." She whispered and squeezed his hand.

"Okay guys, its three-o-clock." Shay said and Matt tightened his grip on Gabby.

"I'll see you down there." He said softly.

"I'll be the one in white." She chuckled quietly as they released their hands.

Matt made it back to the alter and moments later the music started. His body was jittering with nerves as he saw the doors open. First came Mills and Gabby's friend Isabella, then Otis and Heather, Matt smiled at Heather and she grinned back. Next came Hermann and Christy, followed by Antonio and Laura, then finally Kelly and Shay. Matt mind was buzzing and he knew that Gabby was coming soon. "She looks beautiful." Kelly leaned over and whispered to Matt. After the flower girls and the ring bearers everyone stood up.

After what felt like an eternity, the wedding march started to play and both of the doors were pulled open to reveal Gabby and her father. Matt's eyes fell over her and his only thought was of how beautiful she looked. Her long white dress reflected off of her caramel skin and it fell beautifully to the floor. She had a bouquet of wildflowers that was secured with twine. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant grouping that dropped down in thick curls and smaller curls framed her face. Her eyes were glistening with tears and she smiled at Matt as their eyes met.

Her dad was leading her down the aisle and his eyes were teary too. They made it to Matt and the men shook hands and Gabby gave her father a kiss on the cheek before he put her hand in Matt's. He took her hand and pulled her in close; he leaned over to her and whispered, "You look beautiful." His voiced cracked with emotion and she looked up at him as a tear rolled down her cheek. He brushed it away and they took their spots at the altar.

After a long speech by the minister he turned to Matt and asked him to read his vows. "Gabby," He started and gulped. "I love you, with all of my heart; you are my best friend and have been there for me for as long as I can remember. It is a dream come true to marry you and I promise that I will do anything and everything to prove that I love you and to support you and our baby until the day I die." He removed his hand from hers and placed it on her baby bump that you could clearly see through her dress. "I love you." He added softly at the end.

Next it was Gabby's turn. "Matt, where to start. I knew deep down that I was going to fall in love with you as soon as I met you." She paused to wipe the tears from her cheeks and clear her throat before she continued. "You are the greatest man I have ever met and you always know exactly how to make me smile. I vow to love you and support you in whatever life or in other words work throws at us." She finished and Matt chuckled and stared down into her tear filled eyes which his own now matched.

The next step was to exchange rings, Matt slowly slid Gabby's ring onto her slim finger and she took his and did the same on his rough calloused one.

"Gabriela Marie Dawson, do you take Matthew Allan Casey to be you lawfully wedded husband in sickness and in health, good times and bad, for richer or for poorer, as long as you both shall live?" The minister asked.

"I do." She smiled widely.

"Matthew Allan Casey, do you take Gabriela Marie Dawson to be your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health, good times and bad, for richer or for poorer as long as you both shall live?" He asked Matt next.

"I do." He grinned.

"By the power invested in me by the state of Illinois I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride." Matt pulled Gabby into him and kissed her like it was the first time he had ever kissed her. After not seeing her for so long on such a stressful day all he wanted to do was kiss her.

Matt pulled away after an appropriate amount of time and she looked up at him grinning and he held her and the only expression in his eyes was unyielding love. He bent over and gave her another quick kiss before they heard the minister announce. "I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Casey." Matt took his queue to escort his wife down the aisle and he did just that, grinning the entire way.


	32. Chapter 32

** I just wanted to give my extreme thanks to everyone who has read and or reviewed my story. I never could have imagined how well received this story would be. There has been a minor change to my story and it was just to move the ceremony from 1 to 3. Also I wanted to say that if you have Pinterest go follow my writers account at chill81 for pictures related to my stories, I have a lot from the wedding. Thank you guys again and enjoy this extra-long chapter!**

** -chill81 **

As soon as Matt and Gabby were out of view of the guests he pulled her into his chest and tightened his arms around her and rested his chin in her hair. "I love you." He sighed, realizing that they only had a couple of seconds. "Wife." He grinned.

"Husband," She smiled. "I love you too." Matt let go just enough to pull back and kiss her. He had one hand on either side of her face like he did at the alter and kissed her. They were interrupted when Kelly walked up behind Matt and patted him on the back. Matt jumped startled so he pulled away from Gabby. She nuzzled her way under his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and pulled her in close as he realized that they got to relax now but were going to be in front of all of their friends so he had to behave, somewhat.

Gabby hugged all of her bridesmaids and Antonio and Matt shook his groom's men's hands thanking them. "Welcome to the family bro!" Antonio said and gave Matt a hug.

"Thanks man, I'm glad to be here!" He laughed back. Then Heather came over to him and he gave her a big hug. "It's so great to see you and the boys." He smiled.

"Yeah, you're all they have been talking about since they found out." She grinned at him as the kids came out.

"Hey good job guys." Matt smiled and gave all five of the kids high fives. When the guests came out Shay led the wedding party to the spot they were going to take the rest of the pictures with Gabby and Matt.

Gabby nuzzled into Matt's side and they stood there and greeted all of their guests as they walked out of the ceremony space. She only pulled away from him to hug some of her friends and her parents along with Matt's mother, but other than that she stayed glued to Matt's side. After everyone was over at the reception area Gabby started to walk toward the area where the pictures were going to be taken but Matt stopped her. "Come here." He whispered and pulled her back into the ceremony space. He sat down on a chair in the back row on the end and pulled Gabby into his lap. "I love you." He whispered and pulled Gabby's lips back against his. "Before wasn't enough time."

Gabby kissed him back and didn't bother to stop until she absolutely needed air. She put her head on his shoulder and breathed in his musky scent. "I missed you so badly last night. I can't believe we are finally married." She sighed. When she looked back up Matt put his hand on her cheek and she grinned up at him. "I love you" she whispered after a second and Matt gave her a soft kiss. "We need to go take pictures." She sighed and Matt laid his forehead against hers and she looked up through her long lashes into his eyes.

"I can't wait until tonight, when we can be alone." He smiled and they stood up and headed to the others.

"There you guys are." Shay smiled, "We thought you ran off." She winked at them as they got in the middle of the group. They took a few pictures with the main group then they started to take pictures with just the two of them. They even we able to pose with Truck 81 for some adorable pictures.

After pictures Matt and Gabby received a warm welcome when he carried her into the beautiful reception area. Everyone cheered as Matt sat Gabby down and planted a kiss on her lips. She blushed and looked down and Matt just kissed her forehead. The DJ handed Matt and microphone and he cleared his throat and wrapped his arm around his wife. "We just want to thank everyone for coming to celebrate with us and we hope you have a good time." He smiled and they started to move around and mingle with their guests.

For the next couple of hours the guests chatted and the newlyweds walked around to talk to everyone. Matt and Gabby walked over to the group from 51 and they all cheered when they approached. "Hey guys." Gabby smiled as they quieted down.

"Congrats guys." Boden smiled at them from his seat next to Donna, who was about 8 months pregnant and about to pop.

"Thanks Chief." Matt smiled and looked around the group. Everyone was there including Trudy, who was with Mouch, Clarke and his wife, all of the Hermann's and Matt noticed that Kelly was sitting to the side of the group and Brett had a chair pressed right up against him.

"The wedding was beautiful," smiled Cindy who was sitting next to a sleepy Hermann. Matt and Kelly seemed to be the only two who were able to shake their hangovers.

"Thank you." Gabby smiled, when the clock stuck 6 it was time for dinner and they went to their table to enjoy the rest of the evening.

All through dinner Matt had his hand on Gabby's leg and after the dishes were cleared people started to give speeches. Kelly was the first one to go. "Hey, I'm Kelly Severide, I'm Matt's best man and I work with Matt and Gabby at 51." He nervously cleared his throat. "I was thrilled when Matt asked me to be his best man, mostly because I got to throw a party." There was a chuckle from the room and he continued. "I met both of these wonderful people through work and I wouldn't have gotten through some really rough times without them in my life." He smiled. "They're my family and I'm so happy for them. I remember back before Dawson and Casey started dating-" Kelly was cut off by a shout from the crowd.

"She's a Casey now!" Matt called as he grinned and pulled Gabby into his side and kissed the side of her head.

There was a laugh from the audience and Kelly continued. "Fine, Matt and Gabby, better?" He asked sarcastically and looked at Matt who just laughed. "But, before they started dating I would spend the majority of the days at the house making bets on how long it would take them to get together and it took so long we finally got sick of waiting and gave up." He laughed, "They are the best and I'm glad you guys finally found each other even though it took a while. Congratulations." He smiled and stepped down from the microphone and Shay stood up.

"For those who don't know me, I am Leslie Shay, Gabby's maid of honor and partner on the ambulance. When she asked me to be her maid of honor I was thrilled, and not because I got to throw a party." She looked at Kelly and he rolled his eyes. "Gabby has been there for me for as long as I've known her and she has saved me from so many things that could have ruined my life, and I thought did, but she showed me how to continue after everything we've been through. For as long as I've know these two I spent more time with Gabby and trust me, she spent more time thinking about Matt than she would ever admit." Shay looked to Gabby. "You're my best friend girl and I'm so happy for you, I wish you guys the best of luck in marriage and I can't wait to meet your beautiful baby." Shay smiled and went back to her seat after giving Gabby and Matt each a hug.

The night went on and more people gave speeches and shared stories, including Antonio and Edward, Gabby's dad, who just tried to scare Matt even more. Finally as the toasts were winding down Matt stood up and walked to the microphone. "We'll I'm sure you all know me, I'm Matt, the groom." He smiled. "This has been the greatest day of my life thanks to everyone here, and special thanks to my beautiful bride, Gabby." He looked over to her, "As soon as she stepped foot into 51 on her first day I was immediately in love, but I felt like an idiot. Here I was, a plucky young guy who was still a candidate, and there she was, stunning, fearless, and oblivious to the likes of me." He paused and everyone chuckled. "But by some miracle I became lieutenant she noticed me and we became close friends and after a couple rough years and a horrible date she agreed to be my girlfriend. Everything since then has just fallen into place and here we are and I look at her and I can say, that is Gabriela Casey, my wife." He grinned from ear to ear. "I love you baby, I'm ready to spend forever with you and our little one."

On his way back to the table Gabby met him halfway and gave him a big hug and nuzzled her head in his neck. Then she pulled away and went to the microphone. "Well," Gabby smiled and wiped her eyes. "I'm Gabriela Casey, the bride." She chuckled. "I just would like to say thank you to everyone here. This day has been a dream come true because of everyone here. But I'm especially thankful to my wonderful husband Matt, and I can tell you for a fact that without him I would be nowhere in life." She nodded with a laugh. "And I can tell you that Matt's story had an entire other perspective, I thought there is no way this man, this firefighter will ever give me a second look. Well you guys know that story ended here and I'm so thankful. I love you too and I will forever and ever." Gabby smiled at Matt before she walked to him and he met her with a hug.

Next Gabby and Matt cut the cake and Gabby danced with her father to the song _My Wish _by Rascal Flatts. The next thing was Gabby and Matt's first dance. Matt walked her onto the dance floor and they started to dance, the song was _Bless the Broken Road_ also by Rascal Flatts. Gabby relaxed into Matt's arms as he slowly spun her around. She laid her head on his chest and breathed in his musky scent. He bent his neck and kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. "I love you." He sighed.

"I love you too." She looked up into his eyes and grinned. Gabby laid her head back onto his chest and stayed there content until the end of the song when he bent down and gave her a kiss. After a night of dancing Matt and Gabby had to leave but Matt pulled her away from Antonio for one last dance. He spun her to _Soldier _by Gavin DeGraw and then they went outside where everyone said goodbye. Gabby started laughing when 81 pulled up with Cruz there to escort them to the airport.

After they were showered in rice and drove out of sight Matt pulled Gabby's legs across his lap and kissed her. "I love you." He smiled. "My wife."

Gabby grinned back, "I love you my husband." Matt pulled Gabby into him and they whispered and kissed, behind the curtain that someone had hung so Cruz couldn't see, them all the way to the airport. "I love you." Gabby whispered in between kisses.

"I love both of you." Matt smiled and kissed Gabby's belly before moving to her mouth.


	33. Chapter 33

Once Cruz dropped them off at the airport Matt checked their bags in and went to wait next to Gabby who had changed into a beautiful short white dress that hugged her figure before she left the party. They made it through security and had half an hour to wait before they could board the flight. "So," Gabby looked over at Matt. "Can you tell me now?" She looked over at him excitedly.

"Okay," He grinned. "We are getting a beach house on a private beach in the Dominican Republic." He told her quietly.

"Matt!" She squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "This is going to be the best trip!" She smiled and planted a kiss on Matt's lips.

"Anything for you baby." He smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We are also going to be fairly close to some of your family according to Antonio." He grinned and she nodded her head yes.

"I'm so glad we have the next ten days off." She smiled, they were going to miss the next three shifts but would gladly take the days to be alone with her new husband. "I love you." She whispered as she nuzzled into his side.

"I love you too," He smiled down at her and laid his cheek on her head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a long flight they arrived in the Dominican Republic and got a cab. The car took them out of the city and they would down a long, sandy, moonlit road that ended at their house. "Gracias." Gabby told the man in Spanish as Matt got the bags and paid him. They walked toward the house and Matt took one of her hands. "Matt this place is beautiful." She smiled and nudged his side.

"I'm glad you like it." He grinned as he unlocked the door. Matt threw the bags through the door and scoped Gabby into his arms before she could step inside. She giggled as they walked in and he stopped and kissed her. "Can't let your feet touch that threshold." He gave her another quick kiss and sat her down on the cold clay tile floor. The walls of the room were white and there were large windows in the back of the house that looked out over the ocean. "So, midnight swim?" Matt proposed, "We only have one wedding night and we do have a big beach all to ourselves."

Gabby grinned and took Matt's outstretched hand. "I'd love to." She smiled. She slipped her shoes off and took down her hair and Matt took off his tie, coat and shoes. They walked to the water and halfway there Matt started to kiss Gabby and pull the straps of her dress down. Gabby quickly unbuttoned the buttons on his shirt. She threw it aside and he soon followed it with her dress. Gabby unbuttoned Matt's pants and he slid them off.

She pulled him into the ocean and felt the warm water conform to her body and soak her hair. Matt held her neck and kissed her. He kissed her and then started to trail down her body and he paid special attention to her stomach.

Gabby put her hands on Matt's face and pulled his lips up to hers. She kissed him then leaned her forehead against his. "I love you." She sighed and he gently kissed her lips again.

"I love you too." He sighed. Matt pulled Gabby into his body and wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked into the warm water so they were chest deep and kissed Gabby as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can't believe that we are finally married." He sighed.

"Crazy right." She smiled. "I'm finally a Casey."

"You're so beautiful." He sighed and put his hand on the side of her cheek. "It's an honor to be your husband." He grinned.

Gabby giggled, "And it's an honor to be your wife." She smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. She stared into his bright blue, love filled eyes and had no doubt in her mind that Matt loved her completely and unconditionally.

Matt pressed his lips to hers and walked back a few steps and sat down in the sand and let the water come up and hit their bodies half way up their stomachs. "I love you." He whispered as he kissed her and they continued on blissfully into their wedding night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning Matt opened his eyes to the bright sun pouring through the window. He looked down and saw Gabby curled into his side, still sleeping peacefully. He stretched the arm that wasn't wrapped around Gabby and grabbed his phone off the table. The time read 11:23 and he set it back down. He could feel Gabby starting to wiggle at his side and he turned his head to kiss her hair.

"Morning." She yawned and buried her face in Matt's side to block the bright sun.

"Morning beautiful," He smiled and she laughed into his side.

"I'm pretty sure yesterday was the best day of my life." She grinned and rolled back over and looked around the room. The dark wooden bed had pure white sheets that matched the white walls and dark brown dresser. There was one wall made of windows and a door that led right out onto the beach.

"Mine too." Matt smiled and absentmindedly rubbed circles on Gabby's shoulder.

"So what do you want to do today?" Gabby asked.

"Whatever you want to do." He smiled at her.

Gabby rolled to the end of the bed and got up. She walked to their bags and pulled out one of Matt's truck t-shirts and slipped it on. She went to the door and stepped out onto the deck and let the warm sea breeze warm her skin. Matt followed her a few seconds later in boxers, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

"Let's just stay here forever." Gabby smiled and looked out over the ocean.

"I wish we could." Matt smiled and walked out to the sand. He dug his toes into the warm sand and sat down on the last step. Gabby followed him and sat down next to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We'll just have to come back some time." Gabby smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"We'll have someone else with us by then." She grinned and Matt nodded his head.

"Yes we will." He agreed and moved his hand to Gabby's stomach.


	34. Chapter 34

Gabby and Matt spent the day lounging around the house and spending time walking along the beach. After lunch Matt walked up behind Gabby and gave her a hug as she sat at the breakfast bar. "Want to go for a swim?" He whispered in her ear.

She smiled, "Sure." She got up and followed Matt into the bedroom. He grabbed a pair of swim trunks and she rifled through her bag and pulled out a black bikini. Matt was standing over by the door waiting for her, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up." She smiled.

"Okay," He gave her a small smile back, grabbed some sunscreen and headed out the door.

Gabby sat on the bed with the bikini on her lap and shook her head. "Come on Gabby it's just Matt." She sighed to herself. She was feeling self-conscious because of the baby bump. She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She brushed out her hair and decided to just put on the bathing suit. She looked in the mirror for a few seconds and then walked out onto the deck. Matt was down by the water and didn't see her walk out of the house. Gabby sighed and started to walk toward the water.

Matt turned around and grinned at her. "Hey beautiful." He grinned and walked over to her and gave her a kiss.

"Hey," she offered him a small smile and he could tell that something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" He frowned concerned.

"Does this look okay?" Gabby asked as she pulled awkwardly at the bathing suit.

"Of course; you look beautiful." He frowned even more and closed the gap between them and took Gabby's hands. "Why would you say that?" He asked her.

"I don't know, I don't exactly have a bathing suit body right now. " Gabby said and she looked down sheepishly.

"Hey, don't say that." Matt said and Gabby could hear a hint of anger in his voice. "To me you are the most beautiful woman on the planet. It doesn't matter if you are wearing designer clothes or sweat pants, you're beautiful and I love every inch of you. Now, I didn't think it was possible, but you are more beautiful. Do you know why?" He moved his head to wear he could see her eyes, which were still focused on the ground. "You are carrying our baby and if that bump is why you are worried your being crazy, because you are creating a baby that is just going to bring so much love to us and that's beautiful."

Gabby didn't hesitate and threw herself into Matt's arms. He hugged her tight and she sighed and enjoyed the feeling of being in his warm arms. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He sighed and kissed the top of her head. "I love you so much."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matt and Gabby spent time on the beach once Matt was able to reassure Gabby and then when Matt's skin started to get red Gabby suggested they should go inside. After they changed into some comfortable clothes Gabby put in a movie and they curled up on the couch to watch it.

Gabby was lying against Matt's side and it didn't take long for her to start yawning. Matt looked over at her and she was fast asleep. By now it was starting to get later so Matt carefully slid out from under her and headed into the kitchen. After looking through the cabinets he decided to make spaghetti because he knew that he most likely wouldn't mess it up.

Matt made dinner and when it was almost ready he went to wake up Gabby. She walked into the kitchen groggily and leaned against the counter. "You were cooking." She smiled.

"Yeah, it's nothing fancy but it's edible." He grinned back. "I figured I can do some cooking." Gabby laughed and he just looked over and his eyes examined her face.

"I'll teach you some easier recipes so I can make you cook when I get really fat." She said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't say that!" He pointed a finger at her and scolded. "You are beautiful." Matt leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek and she just rolled her eyes.

Gabby pulled a piece of spaghetti out of the strainer and put it in her mouth. "Oh well, you're still doing the cooking." She smiled and he grinned back at him.

"I'll cook for you every day for the rest of my life if that is what you want." He stepped in front of her and lifted her up on the counter and kissed her. Gabby laughed into his lips and he pulled away from her. Matt just looked into Gabby's eyes and grinned, "So I was thinking, maybe you want to go visit your family tomorrow?"

Gabby put her hand on the side of Matt's neck, "I want to visit your family." She looked at him with a challenging look on her face.

Matt narrowed his eyes at her. "Good thing we're married so we have the same family even though I've never met them." He shrugged his shoulders and Gabby laughed.

"So are you as nervous as you were when you met my dad?" Gabby asked him and he just shook his head.

"I already have you, and they aren't taking you away from me." Matt grinned and kissed Gabby again. He was planting small kisses on her lips when the timer on the oven went off and he had to pull the garlic bread out of the oven. He piled some food on a plate and handed it to Gabby. "Enjoy." He smiled as he served himself.

Gabby walked around the counter and sat down on the other side of the bar. "So, I hope you're ready." She smiled as she ate a forkful of food.

Matt set his plate on the counter across from her. "What do you mean?" He looked at Gabby with a curious look in his eyes.

Gabby grinned at him mysteriously, "If you thought the Chicago Dawson's were crazy, you are in for quite the surprise." She smiled at Matt and he just stared back at her with confusion on his face. Now all he could do was wait and see what she meant.


	35. Chapter 35

Matt woke up the next morning and stretched over to Gabby's side of the bed and found it empty. He sat up and looked around the room and didn't see her anywhere. Matt stood up and wondered into the living room. "Gabby?" he called out as he peered around the corner.

"Hey." Gabby smiled at him from the stove. She was wearing a pair of black jeans that hugged her legs, a flowing white t-shirt and a pair of black heeled boots.

"Hey," He grinned. "You look great." Matt's eyes widen as he took in what she was wearing.

"Thanks." She grinned as she walked over to Matt and handed him a plate of eggs and gave him a kiss. "It's just been a while since I've seen them so I want to look nice." She turned back to the stove to clean it off and Matt walked past her to get to the bar and he reached out and to playfully pinch her butt. "Hey." She swatted his hand away. "Behave." She chuckled a warning.

"Sorry," He grinned, "You just look so good I'm going to have to work really hard to behave myself." Gabby rolled her eyes.

"Well, just be careful, they are all really traditional so I don't know how they will react to the baby." Gabby looked over at him with a look of worry.

"I hope they like me but they aren't going to scare me off." Matt smiled at her and she sighed.

"I think they'll like you." She looked over Matt curiously as she finished washing the dishes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours later Gabby had called her Aunt and they were on their way to her house. They were in the city and a cab took them to her Aunt's address. They pulled up to the curb of a small house on the edge of the city. Gabby stepped out of the cab and took Matt's hand. "Most of them speak Spanish and their English is confusing at best."

As the cab drove away the front door opened and a woman who had the similar hair and skin tones as Gabby came running out. "Hola Gabriela!" She called as she walked down the steps and engulfed her in a hug. "Es tan bueno verte venir en!" She said and escorted them inside.

Gabby pulled Matt along behind her as he grinned at the enormous smile on her face. There was a large group of people waiting in the living room and they all greeted them with excited hellos. "Es tan bueno verte chicos." She smiled. "este es mi marido Matt." Gabby motioned to Matt who waved with a smile.

After Gabby introduced Matt to everyone she was pulled away by one of her cousins and Matt sat awkwardly to the side. "Matt, right?" A small voice asked from the side of him. He turned around to see a small woman who had similar characteristics to Gabby. She had dark eyes and long lashes with caramel skin.

"Yeah." He smiled. "Are you, Rosita?" He asked as he tried to remember her from all of the names Gabby had told him earlier.

"Yep, but everyone calls me Rose" She smiled. "So you're from Chicago?" She asked.

"Yeah, born and raised." He chuckled.

"It's a beautiful city." She said and Matt agreed.

"Yes it is, so what do you do for work?"

"I'm a teacher." She smiled, "And you?"

"I'm a firefighter." He told her.

"Wow that's impressive." She grinned at him.

"Thanks, that's where Gabby and I met." He told her. "So I was wondering, Gabby said her family didn't speak much English so where did you learn English?"

"I spent about a year working in New York as a translator for a hospital." Rose told him with a smile.

"Wow that's amazing. Why did you come back? If you don't mind me asking." He asked curiously.

"Oh it's no problem, I missed my family and my workers visa ran out so I just decided to come home." Rose said.

"I can't say I would blame you." Matt smiled. As he was talking to Rose he felt a hand touch his back.

"So I see you found the only person in the room who speaks legible English." Gabby smiled and Matt wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Yep," He smiled and Rose chuckled. "She was just telling me about how she spent a year in New York."

"Oh already bragging," Gabby teased her cousin and they laughed. "My aunt wants to talk to you." She told Matt and he nodded.

"I'll see you later." Matt smiled and Gabby held his hand and led him away. Gabby and Matt sat in chairs across from an older, greying woman.

"Tía esto es mt marido Matt está un bomber." The woman smiled over at Matt and he smiled back.

"¿Cómo hizo conocer chicos?" The woman said and Matt looked to Gabby.

"I told her you're a firefighter and she asked how we met." Gabby told him before looking back to the woman. "Nos conocimos en el trabajo, pero él no habla español."

"Gabriella ¿estás embarazada?" The woman asked her and Gabby smiled.

"Sí tía Matt y yo vamos a tener un bebé. Tengo 19 semanas de embarazo." Gabby and the woman were grinning as Matt sat there confused. "She asked about the baby and I told her I was 19 weeks along." Matt smiled.

"Yeah we're really excited." Matt grinned.

"Sí estamos muy emocionados." Gabby translated for her aunt.

"¡Felicidades!" She grinned and Gabby smiled.

"She said congratulations." Gabby told Matt.

"Gracias." He smiled because he knew one word.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a fun day with Gabby's family the couple decided to go back to the beach house. Gabby walked through the door and kicked off her shoes. "I think they liked you." She learned against the counter and grinned at him.

"Good," He smiled and walked up to her. "Because they're stuck with me." He put a hand on her hip and the other hand behind her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. He started to snake his hand up her side and she squealed into his lips and ran to the bedroom door. "Are you trying to make me work?" He chuckled and caught her in the doorway. He threw her onto the bed and crawled on top of her. "I love you." He kissed her neck and she sighed.

"I love you too." She whispered into his ear.


	36. Chapter 36

After a long week on the Dominican beach Matt and Gabby went home after a wonderful honeymoon. The flight home was long and when they got back they got a cab back to the house. Matt dropped their bags at the door and fell onto the couch. Matt closed his eyes and sighed. "It's good to be home" he smiled.

"Yeah" Gabby smiled and crawled onto the couch beside him and rested her head on his chest. "It still feels surreal to be married." Matt pulled her body into his.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." He smiled and gave her a kiss on the head. They laid there quietly and soon they had both fallen asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next shift the couple walked into 51 hand in hand. As they rounded the corner Matt gave her a kiss because they would have to be professional on the job. "I love you." He smiled as he opened the door and let Gabby walk through.

"I love you too." She grinned and squeezed his hand. They walked into the living room and the guys grinned at them.

"Hey! Morning love birds!" Hermann called out and they laughed. "How was your trip?" He asked next.

"It was perfect." Gabby smiled as Matt wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"We better go get changed out." Matt said and he and Gabby walked into the locker room.

Gabby had her back to Matt and pulled off her casual shirt and unbuttoned her jeans. She felt a warm feeling on her shoulder and laughed and leaned back into Matt's warm chest. "You can't imagine how much I love you." She sighed. Matt gently turned her around and wrapped her in his arms.

"That goes both ways." He answered and Gabby chuckled. "Promise me you'll stay safe." He muttered.

Gabby pulled back and looked into his eyes, "I'll be fine, what brought this up?"

"Just," Matt paused as if trying to find the right words. "We're married now and you are 19 weeks along with this little amazing life..." He trailed off. "If you got hurt." Matt trembled at the thought and Gabby just pulled his lips down to hers and gave him a soft kiss.

"That goes both ways," She said copying his words. "If I lost you I don't think I could function let alone raise a baby so can we please just look at the good side of life and not worry about how soon we will die." She tried to smile but there were tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Matt told her "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, I just think it's my hormones making me emotional." She said with a laugh and Matt gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Well," Matt stuttered out. "I need to tell you something." He took in a big breath and began. "At my bachelor party I was drunk and Kelly ord-"

Gabby cut him off before he could finish. "It was your bachelor party. As long as you didn't get an STD, get another girl pregnant or hurt any one I don't care." Gabby smiled at him and he let out a sigh of relief.

"No." He reassured her quickly. "None of that. Thank you." He smiled and gave her a sweet kiss. "But for the record it was Kelly's fault and I was drunk." He grinned at her.

"Ok, I'll remember that." She laughed at him.

Matt smiled, "I love you." He laughed and gave Gabby a passionate kiss.

"I love you too." She smiled and pulled away from him. "We better get dressed." She smiled and grabbed her uniform shirt. "I'm going to need some bigger clothes soon." She sighed.

"I'll go with you after shift tomorrow." He told her as he pulled on his own shirt.

"That would be great." She grinned and pulled on her uniform pants.

After they got dressed Gabby walked into the common room and took a seat next to Shay at the table. "Hey girl." Shay grinned. "How was the trip?"

"Ah, amazing!" Gabby laughed, "we were right on the beach and we got to see some of my extended family one afternoon. It was perfect."

"I'm jealous, you look even more tan now." Shay chuckled.

"Yeah but you should see Matt's back he looks like a lobster." Gabby said with a laugh. "We had the best time." Gabby said and Shay opened her mouth to answer when the bells went off.

"Truck 81, Ambulance 61 injured person-" everyone jumped into action and they walked out the doors. Matt made it to the door at the same time as Gabby and reached out to touch her hand as if to remind her of their conversation from earlier. She looked over at him with a small smile as she, Shay and Brett climbed into the ambulance.

Shay pulled out of the garage as they guys were pulling on their gear and headed to the scene. When they arrived they quickly found the apartment which was in a building in a rough part of town. Gabby knocked on the door and called out, "CFD did someone call an ambulance?!" The door swung open and a man was standing there with a mangled arm and a busted head.

"Help me." He snapped and opened the door further. When all three of them started to come in he stepped in front of them. "No, her, just one of you." He pointed at Gabby.

"We work together." Gabby said and stepped backwards.

"Come fix me now." He said coldly and pulled out a gun and pointed it at Gabby. "Just her." Gabby slowly raised her hands away from her sides.

"Let me do it." Shay begged and the man shook his head.

"Her." Shay started to say something else but Gabby stopped her.

"Okay, I can help you." Gabby said and he opened the door wide enough for her to walk inside and kept the gun on her the entire time. The man closed the door and Shay looked over at Brett who was shocked too.

Shay grabbed her radio quickly. "Ambulance 61 to main we need immediate police back up. We have a man with a gun holding one of our medics. Send CPD now." She yelled into the radio.

After the response ended Shay could hear sirens approaching. Brett looked over at her worried, "that must be 81." Both of the women knew what she meant, Matt was going to freak out.


	37. Chapter 37

Truck 81 came to a stop at the address behind 61 and they all jumped out. They were there for man power so they needed to find the girls. Once inside the building Matt led them up the stairs, he knew they were getting close when he saw their equipment and after he went up another flight of stairs he saw Brett and Shay. "Where's Gabby?" He asked confused.

"Matt, just, we called the police already." Shay started and she just scared him.

"Where is Gabby!?" He said worried as he pushed past Brett to the door. "CFD open the door!" He called.

"Matt the victim has her. He would only let one of us in and he, he has a gun." Shay said quietly as she tried to calm him down.

"What!" He yelled at her, "and you let her go in there!" Matt was furious and yanked a halligan out of Otis' hands. "Open the door or we're comming in!" Matt yelled as he prepared to break open the door.

"Keep out or I'll kill her!" A voice yelled back.

"Matt!" Gabby yelled and his heart was pounding and his blood was running cold. "Just listen to him!"

Matt groaned in frustration and ran his hand through his hair. He started to walk away from the door when he heard the sound of Gabby's high pitched squeak and the sound of something shattering. He spun around to the door. "Gabby, Gabby are you okay!?" He yelled but didn't get an answer. "Forget it." He mumbled and quickly broke the lock on the door.

"Casey!" Hermann yelled after him.

"Stay out there." He ordered as he walked further inside. He found his way into the kitchen and could see into the living room. Gabby was sitting with her back to him and the man was pointing a gun at her with one hand as she wrapped his other bloody arm.

The man saw him and moved the gun and pointed it at him. "Get out!" He yelled at Matt.

"Let her go." Matt growled back. He tightened his hand around the halligan, "Now!" He said raising his voice.

"Leave or I'll kill her!" He said training the gun back on Gabby when he saw that pointing it at Matt wasn't working.

"Matt just listen to him." Gabby pleaded but Matt still didn't want to leave.

"Fine." He whispered and starred to back out. Once he was out of sight of the man he ducked down behind the counter and crawled along the floor. He made it all the way around the room and ended up behind the man. Gabby saw him and he just laid his finger over his lips. She kept doing her job as he crept closer. She looked at him again and he mouthed get down at her. She immediately fell back and Matt grabbed the man's arm to try and take the gun.

The two rolled around on the ground before Matt ended up on top. The man struggled and a shot was fired but Matt was able to throw the gun across the room. He started to punch the man, "you try to hurt my family!?" He yelled enraged.

The truck 81 guys ran in and pulled Matt off of the man. Otis and Hermann held the man down and Mouch held Matt as Cruz stood in the middle. Next a couple of cops entered the room and Mouch started to guide Matt out. He pulled away and quickly walked into the hallway. Gabby was leaning against the corner of the wall and Matt walked over to her. "Are you okay?" He asked worried.

"Yeah," She nodded and Matt gave her a hug. After a few second Gabby pulled away and looked at Matt's arm. "Are you bleeding?" She asked as she puled his arm to her so she could examine it. There was a small hole in his coat sleeve and when she pulled it open to peer inside she saw a small hole. "Matt, you've been shot." She said and turned to Cruz who had come walking out of the apartment. Brett and Shay were inside with the man and the police. "Cruz go grab me some scissors, clean gloves and some 4x4s." she said and he walked off. "Sit down." She ordered and he did.

"I'm fine." He protested as she helped him out of his coat. Cruz brought what she requested and Gabby started to cut up the sleeve of Matt's shirt so she could reach the wound just above his elbow.

"It's just a graze but it's deep." She sighed and pressed a bandage against it. He cringed but Gabby kept applying gentle pressure. "Why is it that we get into so much trouble?" She asked scarcastically.

"As long as we keep getting out okay." He sighed as she checked the bleeding.

"You might need stitches." Gabby frowned and Matt groaned.

"I'm fine. Really." He insisted and looked at Gabby.

"I'll just wrap it but if it keeps bleeding you're going to the hospital." She said and grabbed a roll of gauze and started to wrap it around his bicep.

"Deal." She sighed and stood up when she was finished. Gabby stood up and pulled off her gloves. "I'm glad your okay." He said pulling her into his side and placing a kiss on the side of her head. He picked his coat up off the ground and they walked downstairs after the others who had already walked out with the victim. When. They got outside Brett and a police officer were trying to hold him to the gurney. Shay walked up to the two.

"Do you want to ride back with truck so you don't have to deal with that idiot?" She asked and Gabby smiled and looked to Matt.

"Can I?" She asked.

"Of course." He told her and they started to walk away.

"Hey what happened to you?" Shay said pointing at Matt's arm.

"He shot me." He said and Shay took his arm to look. "Gabby took care of me." He told her.

"Are you sure this doesn't need stitches?" Shay asked looking at Gabby.

"I think it'll ststop on its own but if not he's going to get stitches." She said and Shay agreed before climbing into the ambulance.

"Come on let's get home." Matt said and started toward the truck as 61 pulled away. Gabby opened the back door but there was no room. The guys has all of their stuff piled on a seat along with extra SCBAs. Matt threw his coat on the piled and patted his leg. "Looks like we need to clean the truck." He laughed and pulled Gabby onto his lap where she could comfortably sit. "But until then this is necessary and we are completely professional. Got it?" Matt said and looked at all of his men who nodded in agreement.

They pulled away and Gabby leaned back into Matt. "Thanks for saving me." She whispered.

"Always." He smiled and squeezed her leg where he had his arm wrapped around her to keep her steady. For the rest of the ride back they laughed with the guys and behaved so they couldn't be accused of being unprofessional.


	38. Chapter 38

The next morning when Gabby and Matt got off shift they went home to get ready to go to Gabby's doctor's appointment. They changed into casual clothes and Gabby made Matt sit on the side of the bathtub so she could check his arm. The wrap was nearly soaked through with blood, and she had already changed it once late last night. "Matt I think you need stitches." She sighed and started to wrap it again.

"Give it a little while longer," He told her, "why waist unnecessary time and money when we have to get ready for the baby."

Gabby gave him an unamused look as she finished rewrapping his arm, "I don't understand your aversion to hospitals," She sighed. "Fine 12 hours but if it doesn't stop you're going to the hospital, and tell me if you get dizzy at all."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned and kissed Gabby before walking out of the bathroom.

"What am I going to do with you?" She grinned and followed him. He pulled on a long sleeve blue sweater and smiled at her.

"I don't know." He said quietly and walked over to her. Matt pushed her back onto the bed and climbed on top of her. He started to kiss her neck and she laughed.

"Matt, we have a doctor's appointment to get to." Gabby laughed. Matt planted a big kiss on her lips and pulled away from her.

"So it's week 20." Gabby whispered. "We might get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl." She smiled at him.

Matt got up and pulled Gabby off the bed. "Yeah we might." He grinned as they walked out the front door to the truck.

"Do you want to know?" Gabby asked him as she climbed into the truck.

"I don't know. I don't care either way." He smiled at her and started the engine.

"What if we wait until he or she is born to find out?" Gabby looked over at Matt with a smirk on her face.

"Okay." He reached over and squeezed her leg. "We'll wait." Gabby grinned at him and laid her hand on his.

When they arrived to the doctor's office they made it back to the room quickly. Gabby sat on the table and Matt stood beside her. "If it's a little girl I hope she looks just like you." Matt smiled and leaned his head against hers.

"Oh yeah, well if it's a boy, I hope he looks like you." Gabby laughed back. "Even if it is a girl I hope she at least has your eyes and your smile." Gabby grinned at him.

"Maybe you're right, if she's a girl I hope she looks like me. You must have kept your dad and Antonio busy chasing off boys." Matt looked at her with a mock seriousness that quickly turned into a smile.

Gabby opened her mouth to respond but the doctor walked in before she could. "Gabriela Casey?" She asked. Gabby nodded and the woman came in and stood next to Gabby. "How are you feeling Gabriela, any pain or bleeding?" She asked curiously.

"Just a little sore in my back." She sighed and watched as the woman wrote a few notes on a form.

"That's very common; it's nothing to worry about." She hit a few buttons on the ultra sound machine and it came to life. "Are you ready to see your little one?" She smiled at them and grabbed a tube of gel.

"Yeah." Gabby smiled and Matt nodded his head and took her hand. Soon the image of their baby filled the screen. A wide grin spread across each of their faces.

"Well your baby looks healthy; would you like to know the sex?" She asked and looked at them.

Gabby looked to Matt again before she answered. "No, we want to wait." She said softly.

"Okay, well there is something I need to talk to you about." She said and Gabby and Matt sat there waiting anxiously. "Based on this coloring," The doctor pointed at an area behind the baby. "it looks like you abdominal muscles aren't back to full health so I want you to be sure to take it easy on the lifting. The extra stress from the baby is compromising them and it could complicate things during delivery. However other than that your baby looks perfectly healthy." She offered them a reassuring smile and turned off the machine.

"Is there anything we can do to prevent any complications?" Matt asked as he held onto Gabby's hand.

"Just limit the lifting of anything over 10 pounds, other than that we will just watch you." She stood up then and Gabby sat up. "If you experience any heavy bleeding call us or go to the emergency room to be safe. We are watching for a placental tear so bleeding would definitely indicate that." She told them. "If you don't have any more questions the receptionist will take care of you." 

"Thank you." Matt said quietly and she waked out of the room. He looked back at Gabby who was looking down at her stomach. "Hey," he whispered, "talk to me."

She sniffled and whipped her face before she tried to speak. "I'm scared." Her voice sounded thick like she was about to cry. "What if we lose him?"

Matt felt his chest tighten with emotion, he was scared like Gabby but he knew that he had to be strong for her. He knelt down in front of her so he could look in her eyes. "It's going to be okay." He told her in the bravest voice he could muster. "We'll get through whatever happens." She looked up and her teary brown eyes met his sure blue ones. "I love you, and our baby." He whispered and kissed her hand on her wedding rings. "Sickness and health, good times and bad remember."

Gabby nodded and Matt stood up and wrapped his strong arms around her. "I love you too." She sighed and melted into his body.

"It'll be okay." He whispered and kissed the side of her head. "Whatever happens, it'll be okay." He whispered. Gabby clung to Matt's shirt and got off of the table.

Gabby and Matt walked out of the clinic after making an appointment for next time. "So, what do you want to do now?" Matt asked as they climbed into the truck.

Gabby ran her hand through her hair with a sigh. "Can we just go home?" She sighed.

"Yeah," Matt said with a sympathetic look.

They were both quiet on the drive home and once they arrived Matt met Gabby on her side of the truck and pulled her in for a hug before walking her in. Inside the house Gabby went up to their room and laid down in bed. Matt looked at her from the doorway, "What can I do?" he asked with a sigh.

"Come here." Gabby mumbled and he happily obliged. He laid down on the bed and Gabby curled her small frame into his body. She breathed in the smell of his cologne and felt her head move with the rise and fall of his chest. "Is your arm okay?" she asked quietly.

"It's fine." He sighed then laid there quietly for a few seconds. "I'm scared too." Matt mumbled, "but I promise it'll be okay." Gabby sighed into his chest and he just pulled her closer.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked him quietly.

"I'm not." He whispered. "All I know is that I'll be here for whatever happens." Matt kissed the side of her head and closed his eyes.

"Matt I love you." Gabby said and looked up into his eyes,

"I love you too Gabby." He whispered and kissed her and they laid there and finally got some rest after an exhausting shift and a worry filled morning.


	39. Chapter 39

** One month later, week 24.**

Gabby crawled out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She stopped to look in the mirror, her stomach was getting bigger and bigger and it is now very obvious she is pregnant. Matt came up behind her and laid his hands on the sides of her stomach and kissed her shoulder. "Getting closer." Gabby mumbled.

"I'm starting to get nervous." Matt smiled and looked at Gabby in the mirror. He had finished painting the nursery the color Gabby choose but other than that she hadn't seen the nursery. He was waiting until the perfect time to show her the finished room.

"Do you need a shower?" She asked and Matt mumbled a yes. "So do I." She whispered and Matt ran his hand under her shirt. "Care to join me?" She asked and stepped toward the shower. Matt grinned and followed her.

After they got ready they went out to Matt's truck and headed to 51 for their shift. Matt was wearing a short sleeve shirt and Gabby reached over to push it up so she could see where the bullet hit him. "Is it healed?" He asked her.

"Not completely, I still can't believe you didn't need stitches." She shook her head and sat back against her seat.

"I'm a quick healer." He grinned at her.

"Yeah sure," She smiled as they pulled into the parking lot behind 51.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That day they had an easy shift with few calls and most of them got at least a few hours of good sleep.

Matt and Gabby walked out to Matt's truck hand in hand when the next shift arrived. "Are you ready to do a little shopping?" Matt asked her. They had made plans last night to get breakfast and do a little baby shopping after yesterday's shift.

"Yeah," Gabby smiled as he started the truck. First they went to breakfast and then they stopped at Gabby's favorite baby store. Matt didn't necessarily like shopping but he loved the happy look on Gabby's face as she looked at all of the little baby clothes. He waited patiently and even looked around with her a little. They bought mostly gender neutral things but got one or two things that would work for one gender or the other. She also bought a blanket box of diapers so they wouldn't have to do a lot of shopping after their little one was born.

After they paid they decided to go home. It was getting close to 11:00 am and Matt was excited to get home. When they made it there he grabbed their bags and Gabby headed up the few steps to the door. She pushed her way inside and flipped on the light.

Gabby jumped when a big group of her friends popped up and yelled "Surprise!" That was when she noticed the_ Congratulations!_ Banner and other baby shower decorations. Gabby started to laugh and Shay ran up to her and gave her a big hug.

"Oh my god Shay!" Gabby laughed. "Did you plan all of this?" she asked and looked around shocked.

"I had a little bit of help." Shay smiled. "Matt helped a lot along with everyone else here by keeping this a secret." She told Gabby.

Gabby turned around and gave Matt a hug and a big kiss. "I can't believe this." Gabby said shocked.

"Are you surprised?" Matt asked her and grinned.

"Yeah!" Gabby gasped.

"Good, go have fun!" He kissed her cheek and motioned for her to go talk to the guests in their living room.

Shay led Gabby over around the room and they talked with the guests there. Gabby's family was there, including Laura and the kids who were with Antonio. As she worked her way through the room Matt wondered over to a small group from 51 made up of Kelly, Hermann, and Boden. Kelly was there because Shay made him, Hermann was there with Cindy, and Boden was with Donna and their one month old son Conner.

"Thanks for coming guys." Matt smiled at them and leaned against the wall.

"Of course, we've got to make sure you're properly prepared for fatherhood." Hermann smiled at him.

"Well I could use the help; I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Matt laughed.

"It's a kid how hard could it be?" Kelly asked and Hermann and Boden looked over at him like he was crazy.

"Well at least I realize babies are difficult." Matt laughed and Kelly shook his head. "I keep thinking that in a few short weeks Gabby and I are going to be responsible for this tiny human that we made and that is terrifying." Matt stuttered and Hermann and Boden laughed at him.

"Just wait it gets worse when the little one is born." Boden laughed.

"Great." Matt sighed and shook his head with a smile.

"I still don't see it." Kelly shook his head.

"Remind me to warn Severide's future wife about his naivety to child care." Hermann laughed and Kelly rolled his eyes.

"You mean Brett." Matt teased and Kelly gave him a light shove and looked down.

"Brett?" Boden asked as he looked curiously at Kelly.

"You're telling me you didn't notice that chief?" Hermann laughed.

"I think I was trying to hold on to the hope that I wasn't going to have to deal with another complicated firehouse romance." Boden sighed and looked between Matt and Kelly.

"Hey don't look at me." Matt put up his hands. "We're bound legally and by a baby now."

Boden smiled at him, "So when did this start?" Boden asked looking over at Kelly.

Kelly cleared his throat before he started, "She came home from Molly's with me the night that guy tried to hurt Gabby."

The guys laughed at him but before they could start teasing him Shay started to speak. She welcomed everyone and started to play some shower games. Later Matt and Gabby sat down to open gifts and Matt let Gabby open them all. They got a lot of yellow, red, white and the occasional pink or blue gifts. They received many of the things they were going to need that they wouldn't have even thought of. As the party started to wind down people started to leave and soon it was on Shay, Kelly, Matt and Gabby.

"Thank you guys so much." Gabby smiled as she lounged against Matt's side. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, "especially you Shay." Gabby smiled at her best friend.

"You're so welcome." Shay smiled at her from across the room.

"So," Matt started, "I finished the nursery a few days ago." He smiled and Gabby looked up at him excited. "Do you want to see it?"

"Yeah!" Gabby grinned widely and Matt helped her up. The four walked up the stairs and Matt stopped at the door. "Come on Matt show me." Gabby pleaded.

"Okay." He smiled and opened the door to reveal a bright yellow room. There was a white handmade crib, dresser, changing table and rocking chair. Some of the clothes they already had and some diapers were stashed on the changing table and dresser. There was a light, light brown baby swing Gabby had said she liked and other baby necessities placed around the room.

"Oh Matt." Gabby said as she placed one hand over her mouth and left the other one sitting on her stomach. "I love it." She said turning to him and giving him a hug.

"I'm glad he smiled." And gave her a kiss. She started to look around the room and Shay stepped in to look with her. Matt walked to the door and stood next to Kelly.

"You did a great job in here." Kelly said and looked around.

"Thanks, the work was worth it." He smiled happily and watched Gabby marvel at the sight of the room.


	40. Chapter 40

**One month later, week 28.**

The entire crew from 51 was sitting around at the station in the morning. They were teasing Cruz about his bad cooking and talking about Molly's. Gabby was sitting in a rolling chair at the long table and Matt was sitting next to her reading the paper. She was messing with her phone when she felt a strange pain in her stomach. She put her hand on her stomach and took in a deep breath.

Matt noticed and intense worry spread across his face. "You okay?" He set his paper down and leaned over to her.

"Yeah, just felt weird." She tried to smile at him but he still looked worried. "Feel this." Gabby said and took his hand and pressed it to her stomach.

"Whoa." Matt sighed when he felt the strong kicks coming from Gabby's abdomen. "Does that hurt?" He looked up at her in astonishment.

"No, it feels really weird though." She laughed and he believed her. "I'm getting really excited." Gabby smiled. "And it'll be nice to get my body back." She chuckled.

"Well we'll have a whole other body to deal with." Matt grinned and leaned back into his chair.

"Yeah, I'm getting excited." She chuckled. "Three months isn't that long." Gabby shook her head and smirked.

"Yeah, it's going to be a huge change." Matt smiled at her.

"Hey, what do you say we-" Gabby was cut off by the bells calling them away to a apartment fire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they arrived the paramedics were standing off to the side waiting for the firefighters to bring out the first victims. They were at a large building that was fully engulfed in flames. There were many apartments and not enough time to search. It was clear this building was going to start flaming over before the guys had time to conduct a through search.

Matt ran into the building with Hermann on his heels, they were headed up to the top floor to search then work their way down. They each took a side of the hall and startEd to work through quickly. After they had finished the rooms Casey and Hermann met up again at the top of the stairs. "I've got nothing." Hermann yelled over the sound of the flames.

"Okay let's go." Casey yelled back. He turned to the stairs and before he could radio to Boden they were comming out he saw one more door. "Hermann," He said getting the man's atattention and pointing at the door. They moved over to the door and went inside.

"Everyone out smokes turning black." Boden called over the radio.

Casey and Hermann quickly looked through the first room and moved into the back bedroom. There they found a boy coughing and wheezing on the floor. He was loosing consciousness by the time Matt reached him. "Stay with me buddy." Matt said as he collected the kid who was only about 10 years old in his arms. "We're headed out with a victim, we're going to need a medic." He called into the radio and headed out the door.

Outside the girls from 61 and two other ambulance crews were treating the barrage of patients that the other guys brought out to them. When Matt's call came through the radio Gabby stood up. "I've got it." She said and left her stable patient. She grabbed a jump bag and an empty gurney and walked to where Chief Boden was standing to wait for Casey and Hermann to come out.

Back inside the two men were almost to the stair case on the second floor that would lead them out. They could hear the building creaking and groaning as the fire ate away at all of the suppory the beams once provided.

"Casey, Hermann report." Boden called into his radio as he anxiously waited for his men to come out.

"Almost there Chief." Hermann answered because Matt had his hands full with the boy.

The building started to creak and bend as their weight shifted. The men knew what was about to happen. "Get down!" Matt yelled and shielded the boy's body with his as the room flashed over and filled with flames.

Outside the men could see the explosion shake the building as the windows burst. "Casey, Hermann report." Chief said into his radio worriedly. When it was met by silence he called out again more frantically this time with more authority in his voice.

Dawson slightly behind Chief, her features filled with worry. She was staring at the door willing Matt and Hermann to get out safely. Seconds passed and there was no sigh on either of the started to feel her throat tighten with worry and couldn't help but remember the night when Matt got hurt trying to save the baby. By then Shay had handed her patient off to another paramedic and walked over to Gabby. She put her hand on Gabby's shoulder and felt her completely tense with worry.

After what felt like an eternity, but was really only long enough for the other to put on their masks, the shape of two men appeared in the smoke. Hermann came stumbling out first with Matt close behind. Gabby let out a sigh of relief and pushed the gurney toward them so they could put the boy down. Matt set him down and pulled off his mask with a sigh. Shay started to work on the boy and Gabby looked at Matt. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah," He offered her a small smile of reassurance. He watched her and Shay work after making sure Hermann was okay too. Gabby was trying to intuintubate the boy and Shay was trying to get an IV in his burned arm. After a few tries Gabby got the tube in his lungs and a frust rated Shay finally found a vein. The boy was attached to the heart rate monitor and they soon noticed he was crashing.

"We gotta move." Gabby said and started toward the ambulance and loaded the boy in the back. "Brett you drive." She called as she and Shay climbed in the back. On the way to the hospital Gabby was giving the boy medicine to try and restart his heart and shocking him while Shay did chset compressions in between. Once thry dropped the boy off at the hospital the exhausted medics went back to the house.

Gabby walked into the bathroom to find a soot covered Matt. He was washing his face and smiled when she walked in. "How's the boy?" He asked softly. Gabby just shook her head and leaned against Matt's side. "Are you okay?" He asked and wrapped his arm around her body.

"Yeah." She replied as she breathed in his smokey scent and slightly cringed.

"Woah what was that." He asked and worriedly turned her so he was almost facing her.

"I don't know." She said placing her hands over her stomach and leaning against the sink. Matt put his hands on her stomach as well and knelt down.

"Are you having contractions?" Matt asked his eyes wide.

"No," She assured him, "no I just think your baby is destined to be a soccer player." She smiled at him. She pulled him up and he leaned into her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Gabby looked at him with a slight frown.

"What?" He whispered.

"You scared me." She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Please don't do that again." She mumbled with her voice trembling.

"Hey," He put his hands on her face and forced her to look at him. "I promise, I'll come home to you guys by any means necessary." Matt's eyes were glued to Gabby's and she sighed.

"Okay." She nodded. Matt hugged her and gave her a kiss on the head. He wrapped her arm around her and they walked to the locker room. Gabby let out a yawn.

"Go get some sleep." He kissed her again and stopped to change his shirt.

She nodded and headded to the door. "I love you." She turned around and said before she left.

"I love you too." He grinned and Gabby walked out the door.


	41. Chapter 41

**One month later, week 32.**

Matt came walking into the living room with a bowl of popcorn and two waters for him and Gabby. She was curled up on the couch with a blanket and he sat down beside her. She was starting to get bigger and tired more quickly. Matt laid down next to her and pulled her into his side. He covered them up with a blanket and Gabby turned on a movie. "How are you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Tired." She yawned and laid her head on his shoulder. "I can't wait for her to get here." She smiled and rubbed her hands over her stomach.

"You think it'll be a girl?" He smiled down at her.

"I don't know." She grinned and played with one of his hands in hers while he rubbed her stomach with the other. "I change my mind every other day." She smiled. "What do you think it'll be?" Gabby leaned he head back and looked up at him.

"I don't care as long as he or she is healthy." Matt smiled and kissed her head. "We will be ready no matter what it is."

Gabby smiled and closed her eyes. "I can't wait, I've never see you with a little baby." She nuzzled deeper into his arms and sighed in happiness.

"I've never had any little babies I knew well, but I'll have VIP access to this little one." Matt grinned and breathed in the sweet smell on her hair.

"Keep talking like that and I'll make you get up all the time." She smiled and he chuckled.

"I'd be happy to but I feel like I'll regret that after he's born." Matt grinned and looked down on Gabby's beautiful face.

"Oh you will," She said with a laugh, "but since I love you and I want to prevent you from becoming a zombie I'll help." She teased him. "I'll just assume this is because your lack of experience your with a newborn child."

Matt's face lit up and he tightened his arms around Gabby's abdomen. "I can't wait for _my_ newborn because I definitely haven't had one of those before." He smiled and started to rub circles on Gabby's belly.

"Yeah I haven't had one of those either." She chuckled. "I guess we'll just have to learn as we go with this one."

"I think we'll catch on pretty fast." He told her reassuringly.

Gabby was starting to dose off and Matt was just watching her. Right before she fully fell asleep the doorbell rang and she opened her eyes again. Matt started to get out from under her, "I'll get it." He said as he headded to the door. A few minutes later he came back with a box. "This just came for you." He said and handed it to Gabby.

Curiously she pulled it open and looked inside. "It's the wedding pictures they finally came!" She laughed happily. Matt sat down beside her and they started to look at them. There were many pictures from when they were getting married along with the bridesmaids and grooms men pictures. Then they got to the post wedding photos of the entire party. Gabby laughed at the next picture. She and Matt were standing in the middle kissing and all of the others were cheering.

"I like these two." Matt pointed at two different pictures, one was Gabby grinning and looking down but toward the camera and Matt had his head pressed against hers and was slightly grinning. The other one was of Matt and Gabby kissing in front of truck 81 and Gabby had Matt's coat on and Casey was focused on.

"I like these too." Gabby grinned and pointed at her favorites. Gabby pointed at a picture of her and Matt with Christmas lights behind them. Their faces were dark but you could tell they were mid kiss. Another photo was of Matt carrying her down the aisle and kissing her. The final one she pointed out was of her and Matt back to back holding hands before the wedding.

"Yeah those are good ones." Matt grinned and pulled Gabby into his side. "We should get some of these frames." He smiles as Gabby kept leafing through the book.

"We should." She smiled and closed the book and put it on the table. She snuggled into his side and closed her eyes. "That woud be a good pre baby project." Matt chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll have our hands full after the baby comes." He said as he pulled the blanket back over them.

A little while later Gabby and Matt both dozed off and when he woke up the credits were rolling. Matt gently lifted Gabby off the couch and carried her into the bedroom. He laid her on the bed, covered her up and gave her a kiss. He crawled into his side of the bed and closed his eyes. A moment later he felt Gabby move into his side.

"Did I wake you?" He asked her quietly.

"I don't care, it was sweet." She smiled. "I love you." She yawned.

"I love you too." Matt grinned and they drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. Sorry for the late chapter but I had some writers block. Thanks again for reading. -chill81 **

**PS: Who else was extremely upset about the fall finale! **


	42. Chapter 42

**5 weeks later, 37 weeks.**

Gabby was sitting on the side of the bed angrily looking at Matt. "I'll be fine!" she yelled as he slipped a t-shirt over his head.

"Gabby, I'm sure you would be but do you really want to risk it?" he pleaded and walked through the bedroom door. Gabby got up to follow him but was out of breath and had to hold on to the stair railing to keep from falling. "See," Matt said and turned around to help her down the steps. Matt walked Gabby to the couch and helped her sit down. "I know you want to work but it's too dangerous, what if something happens on a call?"

Gabby let out a sigh. The last time she went to the doctor they told her that she was experiencing false labor. Today she was experiencing bad pains but it had been worse before. "Well what if something happens while you're at work?" she asked.

"Then you call me." He smiled and kissed her head. "Get some rest, I'll tell Boden." Matt smiled at her again and walked out to his truck. "I'll call to check on you later, love you!" He called as he shut the door.

That morning at 51 Matt told Boden why Gabby couldn't work today and then took his spot at the table. Shay walked up to him and sat down. "Is Gabby okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, just false labor pains." He said softly. "I didn't want her to risk it." He said and Shay nodded understanding.

"I bet she didn't want to stay home." Shay laughed.

"She definitely did not. She-" Matt was cut off by the sound of the bells ringing and calling 61 to a heart attack victim. Shay stood up from the table and ran out.

She met Brett at the ambulance and walked over to the passenger door. They had planned that Shay would be the PIC when Gabby went on maternity leave. "Dawson's not going to be here today, you drive." She told Brett and climbed into the ambulance.

"Is she in labor?" Brett asked as she pulled out of the garage.

"Not yet." Shay sighed and leaned back in her seat. After they returned from the call, Kelly pulled her into the briefing room.

"What were you planning on doing after shift tomorrow night?" Kelly asked her curiously.

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"

Kelly looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "I was going to see if Sylvie wanted to come over."

Shay rolled her eyes. "Why don't you guys just tell everyone you are together?" She questioned. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows. You guys stare at each other and flirt all the time." Shay laughed loudly.

"Keep it down!" He scolded.

"Don't worry, tell me a time and I'll be doing something or in my room by then." Shay rolled her eyes at him.

"Thanks Shay." He grinned at her and walked out.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Across the house Matt was sitting against the desk in his quarters with his phone in his hand. He held it up to his ear. "Hello?" Gabby answered sleepily.

"Hey baby, I was just calling to check in." Matt said happily. "Did I wake you up?" He asked her softly.

"No I was asleep earlier but you didn't wake me up." She assured him.

"So how do you feel?" Matt asked her worriedly.

"I'm actually feeling better, I was thinking about going somewhere, maybe doing some shopping and getting some lunch." She smiled, "I can bring you some lunch if you want."

"Yeah, that would be great, I'm glad you're feeling better." Matt smiled at the thought of it.

"I'm going to go get ready; I'll see you in a little while." Gabby told him. 

"Okay, I'll see you in a little while, I love you." Matt told her.

"I love you too." She said and Matt hung up.

A few hours later Gabby came waddling into 51 with lunch for Matt. All of the Squad guys greeted her happily as she walked through the apparatus floor. Kelly got up and walked in with her. "Hey guys look who I found!" He called when they made it to the common room. The guys looked up and greeted her with smiles. Shay walked over to her and gave her a hug, "How are you feeling?" Shay asked.

"Like a whale." Gabby laughed. "Have you guys been busy?"

"Not really." Shay replied, "Hey there's Matt." Shay said when she saw Matt step out of the bathroom she wondered off so they could talk.

He looked up from his phone and grinned at Gabby. He quickly walked over to her and gave her a kiss. "There you are." He smiled.

"Yep, I brought your favorite." She said and held up the bag.

"You're the best." He smiled, "Come on let's go sit down." He said and they walked to Matt's office so they could talk in private.

While they enjoyed lunch they were talking about the baby. "I have to show you this." Gabby grinned and grabbed her phone to show Matt a picture of something she wanted to do with the baby. "Oh crap, my phone just died." She sat it back down. "I'll show you later." She smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Okay." He smiled as he finished his lunch and moved to sit closer to Gabby. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "So, did the false labor stop?" He asked and she nuzzled her head into his chest.

"No but if I pace myself I'm fine." She smiled and let out a yawn. "I should get home." She told Matt.

"Yeah, go get some rest." Matt helped her up and they started to walk out to Gabby's car. "Call me when you get some sleep." Matt said as he opened Gabby's door for her. "I love you." He said and gave her a kiss.

"I love you too." She smiled at him. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said and sat down in her car. "Be safe." She told him through the open window.

"Always." He replied, "you be safe too." He said and leaned through the window to give her a kiss. "I'll see you both tomorrow," Matt grinned and put his hand on her round belly.

"Bye." She smiled and started the car.

"Bye babe." He said and stepped away from the car and watched her drive away.

A little while later Matt was sitting at the table with Shay, Kelly and Brett. "So Kelly what time is my curfew tomorrow night." Shay asked sarcastically.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kelly said giving Shay a look to tell her to shut up.

Shay looked at him with a defiant look on her face. "Hey Casey did you know about Kelly's romance with-" Shay was cut off mid-sentence when Kelly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Brett." Matt finished her sentence and pointed at the blushing Sylvie. "Yeah, everyone does. There is even a bet on when you guys would announce it." He raised his eyebrows and smirked at Kelly and Brett.

"Are you kidding me?" Brett asked and shook her head. She started to say something else when the bells rang again. They called 61 to a woman in distress and the girls dutifully jumped into the ambulance. As they drove to the location of the call, which was in a medium sized mall that was just about 4 blocks away, Shay teased Brett about the bet.

The girls were walking inside and Shay laughed, "It was so obvious, and I can't believe you guys didn't catch on to the bet."

"Yeah, whatever." Brett rolled her eyes and they rounded a corner.

"Kelly organizes a lot of bets; he must have been too busy staring at you to notice." She laughed again but stopped when a young security guard ran over.

"Over here, we don't know what to do." He called and waved them down the corridor. They picked up their pace and quickly followed him. They walked into a more closed off area and when the guards moved aside they saw a very pale and sweaty Gabby leaning against the wall.

"Dawson." Shay said worried and ran over to her best friend. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Gabby panted and struggled to keep her head up.

"Okay we've got you." Shay assured her and started to asses her. "Brett go grab the gurney." Brett ran out of the room and Gabby looked at Shay with fear in her eyes. "Gabby you're going to be fine." She assured her and grabbed her radio. "51 come in." Shay called.

A second later Mouch's voice responded. "Go ahead 61."

"I need Casey now." She demanded.

"Shay, what's going on?" Matt's worried voice came through the radio moments later. By now Brett and Shay were helping Gabby onto the gurney.

"Casey, Gabby is our patient. Something is happening with the baby." Shay said quickly.

Back at 51 Matt's blood ran cold when he heard Shay's words. "We-we're on our way." He stuttered out. "81 in the truck now!" Matt yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Matt we're already leaving. Meet us at Chicago Med." Shay said and Matt barely heard her.

"Fine." He replied and then sprinted out to 81 and jumped in. Before the others even had their doors closed Matt yelled, "Step on it Cruz!"

As they sped out onto the street with the sirens blaring Shay and Brett loaded Gabby into the ambulance and took off towards the hospital. Matt was sitting in the truck with his heart pounding, hands shaking and praying that his wife and his baby would be okay.


	43. Chapter 43

Gabby was sitting on the gurney and had her head leaning against the wall. "Gabby, are you feeling lightheaded?" Shay asked her and tried to get her to stop slumping over.

"Um hm." Gabby mumbled as her eyes started to slip closed. Shay was taking her blood pressure and became alarmed when she realized it was 80/40.

"Gabby you have to stay awake." Shay told her friend and shook her shoulder. Gabby barely opened her eyes and they quickly closed again. Shay started to feel around on Gabby's abdomen and felt even more worried when she noticed that she had a fair amount of blood on her pants. "61 to Chicago Med we have a 28 year old female, 37 weeks gestation, blood pressure 80/40, heart rate 120 bpm. She is in labor and she's bleeding." She said into the radio, half for Chicago Med half for Matt's sake. Gabby opened her eyes a little and lifted her head partially when Shay started her IV.

She was breathing heavily and put a hand on her stomach. "Something feels wrong Shay." Gabby whined from the bed. "I think the baby's coming." She said softly.

"It's going be okay." She smiled at her. "You're bleeding so your blood pressure is low and your heart rate is high, but we're going to take care of you." She assured her.

"Where's Matt?" Gabby asked with worry in her voice. She was scared and the only person she wanted was Matt and the last thing she wanted was for him to miss the birth of his child.

"He's coming." She rubbed Gabby's arm. "Here." Shay pulled her radio and handed it to Gabby.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

81 sped down the street and was going to attempt to meet up with 61 and get to the hospital at the same time. Cruz slowed down in preparation for the turn and Matt put out his hand, "Wait," he told the other man. Cruz stopped the truck and looked at his lieutenant's trembling hand. Seconds later 61 went screaming by them in the direction of the hospital. "Go!" Matt ordered.

He stared at the doors of the ambulance desperately wanting any information on Gabby and their baby. He listened carefully as Shay came over the radio and reported Gabby's condition. His heart was pounding and he realized that what he was hearing was not good news. Matt was gripping the side of the seat and his knuckles were turning white as he listened to Shay talking through her open radio.

Matt's radio crackled to life and he heard Gabby's sleepy voice coming through. "Matt?" she asked.

"Gabby? Gabby are you okay?" he gasped into the radio.

"Matt where are you?" She asked as her breath hitched in her throat.

"We're right behind you, I'm coming." He assured her.

"Matt the baby, he-" Gabby stopped mid-sentence.

"Gabby? Baby talk to me." Matt called out. When she didn't answer he started to panic. "Shay what's going on?" he asked frantically.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back inside ambulance 61 Shay watched Gabby go pale and her head fall back. "Gabby, you've got to stay awake." Shay told her as she leaned the bed back. "61 one minute out; patient just lost consciousness." She reported and started to recheck Gabby's vitals after she started another round of IV fluids.

"Come on Gabs." Shay muttered. She pressed her stethoscope to Gabby's stomach and listened to the baby's heartbeat which was slightly elevated, but not high enough to be alarmed. All Shay could do was watch the monitors. "Hang in there girl, wake up for me Gabby." Shay begged her friend as they pulled into the parking lot in front of Chicago Med.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In 81 behind the ambulance Matt couldn't sit still. When they came with-in sight of the hospital he put his hand on the door, ready to get out. He could hear Shay talking with Gabby and he knew she was still unconscious. Cruz pulled into the parking lot across from the E.R. and came to a stop as the same time as 61. Matt was out of the truck and sprinting across the black top before the truck even came to a full stop.

"Gabby!" He yelled as he rounded the corner of the ambulance where Brett was pulling the doors open. "What's happening?" He called out. When she heard his voice Gabby opened her eyes.

"Matt?" She croaked out.

"I'm here baby." He said; taking her hand, his blue eyes full of worry. "Shay what's happening?" Matt begged her to tell him anything.

"She's in labor but I think the placenta is detaching." Shay said as she started to push the gurney into the hospital.

Shay reported Gabby's vitals to the Emergency Room doctor and they pulled her into a trauma bed. A nurse put her hand on Matt's chest to stop him from going any further. "No, that's my wife and baby. I have to be with them!" He begged the woman.

"Let him in." The doctor ordered and he pushed past through and grabbed Gabby's hand again. She squeezed his hand and closed her eyes tightly as she whimpered in pain. Her breath started coming out in ragged gasps and when she started to calm down her breathing picked up again when the doctor started to press on her stomach.

Tears were sliding down her cheeks as Matt tried to comfort her but there wasn't much he could do. She whimpered Matt's name and tried to curl away from the doctor's touch. "I know it hurts baby." He told her as he ran his free hand through her sweaty hair.

"We need to get her up to labor and delivery now." The doctor said and next thing Matt knew Gabby was being whisked down the hallway as he struggled to keep up. With every bump Gabby cried harder and turned over on her side and gripped Matt's hand like it was her life preserver.

As they passed the waiting room 81 and the paramedics stood and watched, mouths agape, and Boden and Severide came in the door with the rest of the Squad in tow. "Is that Gabby?" Severide asked Shay when he saw the other blond haired, wide eyed lieutenant following the group of doctors into the elevator.

"Yep." Shay sighed and sat down worried, about her best friend. Kelly rubbed his hand through his hair sat down next to Shay.

"They'll take care of them; Matt will make sure of that." Kelly said as the others started to find chairs.

"I can't believe this is happening to them." Otis said quietly.

"What can we do?" Mills asked and looked over at Boden sympathetically.

Boden replied quietly, "We pray and we wait."


	44. Chapter 44

Upstairs Gabby was pushed into a room and handed over to her OB. In a short moment of calm Matt and Gabby were sitting together in silence. "How do you feel?" He whispered leaning forward and stroking her hair.

"Like I'm about to have a baby, so like crap." She muttered and stayed on her side curled up in a ball.

Matt chuckled, "I should have seen that one coming." He grinned. Gabby squeezed his hand and winced as she felt the pain of another contraction. Matt frowned and let her squeeze his hand and rubbed her back, wishing there was more he could do. "Is there anything you need me to do?" He asked leaning his head closer to her level.

"Just be here." She said and ran her thumb over his knuckles to bring the blood back to them. She kissed his fingers gently.

"I'm not going anywhere." He sighed and kissed Gabby's head.

"I'm scared," She mumbled and cringed as another contraction hit.

"Everything is going to be okay." He whispered to her and kissed her forehead.

She looked up at him with her big brown eyes. "How do you know?" Gabby asked softly.

"I don't." He shook his head. "Not for sure. I just know I'm going to be right here the entire time." She gave him a small grin and nodded her head okay. Matt massaged her back as the doctor and a few nurses came inside.

"Okay Gabby we're going to run some tests on you now, okay?" She asked her calmly.

"Sure." Gabby whispered.

"Okay, so Matt we need you to step out for a moment." The doctor moved around the bed and started to rummage through a cabinet. When she saw Matt hesitate she tried to reassure him, "everything will be okay, this just isn't something people want to watch on their loved ones." The doctor told him and he reluctantly agreed.

"I'll be right outside." He whispered into Gabby's hair and gave her a kiss. "I love you." He told her as she released her grip on his hand and stepped out.

The door fell shut behind him and he fell against the wall across the hall. The group from 51 had moved upstairs and was sitting at the end of the hallway. Kelly looked up and saw Matt standing there. He got up and walked slowly down towards him. "Matt." Kelly called and the other man looked up. "What do you know."

"She's definitely in labor and they think the placenta is detaching." Matt sighed and leaned back into the wall.

"Damn." Kelly said softly and took in the appearance of the other man. His hair was disheveled like he had been nervously running his hands through it and his blue eyes were rimmed with red, an indication that he had been tearing up on the way here. "We're all here for you guys, Shay is seriously going crazy in there."

"Thanks man." Matt chuckled. "I'll try to keep you updated." Matt mumbled.

"When you get back in there give Gabby our love." Kelly told Matt as the door opened and a nurse invited Matt inside. He eagerly stood up and dashed through the door. Kelly watched him go and then found his way down the hallway to the others. He gave them a quick update and fell onto the chair next to Shay. "I don't know about Gabby but Matt looks like crap." He whispered to her and laid his head back.

Back inside the room, things were starting to move quickly now. The doctors said that they wanted to do an emergency c-section but the baby was already moving down in Gabby's hips and since she didn't want surgery the doctors were going to let her have the baby normally.

Gabby was sitting nervously on the bed watching the commotion around her. Matt was watching the scared look on her face and reached his hand out for hers. "We are going to meet our baby in a few minutes." He whispered.

"Yeah," Gabby smiled. "I'm getting nervous for different reasons now." She said softly.

Matt grinned at her, "We are going to make it through this." He told her without a hint of hesitation in his voice. "I love you." He said quietly and kissed her lips.

The doctor walked through the door and started to put on gloves. "Are you ready for this?" She asked Gabby with a smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She chuckled and her voice wavered. A nurse was checking her IV to make sure she was getting the necessary clotting drugs and pain medication.

"Don't worry." She told Gabby, "We've become pretty good at this." She joked. "We'll take care of you."

Gabby let out a sigh that got caught in her throat. She started to breathe heavily and the doctor walked over to her. "Okay Gabby the baby is almost here." She said and took her spot at the end of the bed. "I need you to take deep breaths okay?" She said trying to calm Gabby down. Matt held Gabby's hand and got ready to meet their child. He was excited and nervous at the same time so he could only imagine how Gabby must be feeling. "Okay Gabby I can see the baby so I need you to push."

Gabby followed her instructions and started to push as she squeezed Matt's hand. After a long attempt at pushing she let her head fall back on the bed with a sigh. "That was great Gabby." The doctor encouraged her. "Do that again." She told her.

She sighed and squeezed her eyes closed. "Come on baby." Matt encouraged her and gave her hand a kiss. "You can do it." He told her and she nodded and started pushing again. Gabby pushed again and made good progress and on the next push the baby's head was out. Gabby whimpered in pain and squeezed Matt's hand as hard as she could. Matt was grinning and looking toward the foot of the bed. "He's almost here baby." He told her and rubbed her arm. "You can do it." He said excitedly.

"Okay Gabby one more push." The doctor said. Gabby gathered all of her energy and put it into one final push. In a few short seconds she fell back on the bed in relief and the doctor was holding a squirming little baby.

Matt was grinning from ear to ear as he rubbed Gabby's shoulder and stared at his baby in awe. The doctor put the baby on Gabby's stomach and started to clean it off. Matt looked at Gabby who was pale and breathing heavily. "Look baby, you did it." He squeezed her hand and she smiled down at their baby. Tears sprung to Matt's eyes and he reached out to touch his little baby. " Hey little one." He smiled.

Gabby had her head laid back again, "What is it?" She asked.

That was when Matt remembered that they were waiting until it was born to see what the baby would be. Matt looked and smiled with tears of joy in his eyes. "It's a boy." He laughed. "It's a little boy."


	45. Chapter 45

The doctors had taken the little boy over to the other side of the room to clean him up and weigh him. After Gabby got settled back into bed they brought him over. Gabby took the boy into her arms and grinned at her tiny baby. "Hi." She chuckled and kissed his little nose. "He looks so much like you." Gabby said and looked up at Matt.

"Do you think?" He asked looking over his son's face.

"Yeah, just look at that grin. That is all you." She said and snuggled him in closer.

"He's healthy that's all I care about but he's pretty beautiful too." Matt smiled and gave Gabby a kiss. "You did amazing." He told her.

"I'm just glad he's here." Gabby smiled and kissed him again. "Do you want to hold him?" She asked Matt softly.

"Yeah." He grinned and carefully took the tiny baby out of her arms. "Hey little guy." He whispered and the tiny boy opened his bright blue eyes and looked up at him. "He has your nose." Matt smiled down at the baby happily.

"Yeah but those eyes are all you." Gabby laughed.

"Are we sticking with the name we talked about?" Matt asked softly.

"Yeah. So do you want to go introduce him to the family?" Gabby asked with a grin.

"Of course." Matt replied energetically as he carefully stood up cradling his little boy in his arms.

Out in the waiting room Kelly looked up and saw Matt walking down the hall with a little blue bundle. "So?" He asked and jumped up to meet Matt at the door.

"It's a boy!" Matt announced beaming.

The others gathered him to see the new member of the family. "Casey he's adorable!" Shay squealed and pulled the blanket away from his face to get a better look.

"Looks like we've got another firefighter in the family." Mouch laughed.

"How's Dawson?" Kelly asked Matt.

"She's great." He smiled. "Tired but she's good."

"Congratulations. " Boden said patting Matt on the shoulder.

"Thanks chief." Matt smiled and looked down at his son whose eyes were drooping closed.

"So what did you guys decide to name this little guy." Hermann asked.

"Logan Alexander Casey." Matt said proud and everyone grinned.

"Hey Logan." Shay cooed.

Matt looked up and saw Antonio quickly walking down the hallway. "Hey," He smiled, "come join the party." Matt laughed and the group from 51 made room for him to get through.

Antonio was grinning widely, "so, little boy?" He asked.

"Yep." Matt grinned at his brother-in-law as he peered at the baby in Matt's arms. "Logan Alexander. " He said as Antonio smiled at the boy.

"Congrats man. How's Gabby?" He asked, worried about his sister.

"She's great." Matt smiled. "She's in room 213 if you want to go see her." Matt told him and he started to walk down the hallway.

"Can I hold him." Shay asked and Matt laughed.

"Sure." He said handing the boy over to her because he could tell she had been dying to hold him. Shay was talking to the baby and Matt took a step back so the others could see him.

"Are you ready for this?" Hermann asked Matt quietly.

"Nope." Matt smiled. He looked over at Hermann for a second but his eyes never really left Shay. The entire time he was watching Logan protectively.

"I think you'll be fine." Hermann chuckled when he saw the look on the new dad's face.

Logan's little face scrunched up and he let out a small, pathedic cry. Matt instantly started moving and ran over to Shay to aid his son. He took the baby from her and rocked him in his arms. He whimpered a few more times but calmed down and stuck his thumb in his mouth. He let his head fall toward Matt and closed his eyes. Everyone from 51 smiled at the sweet sight of their tough lieutenant like putty in his baby's hands.

"I should take him back to Gabby." Matt said as he looked down on Logan's sleeping face. "You guys should get back." He said and Boden nodded in agreement.

"Can I see Gabby before we leave?" Shay asked looking between Matt and Boden.

"Fine with me as long as Gabby's up for it." Boden said looking at Matt. "Any of the guys, it's up to Dawson."

"I'll ask her." Matt said and started to walk back down the hall. "Hey," He knocked quietly and smiled at Gabby. "The guys want to know if you're up for visitors?"

"Sure." Gabby smiled as Matt handed her Logan who softly fussed when he was removed from his father's warm arms. "Are you complaining already?" Gabby asked him with a smile when she saw he was already half asleep again.

A few hours later after all of the guys had left and Antonio went to call their parents, who were on a trip, to update them Gabby finally drifted off to sleep and Matt sat in the chair beside her holding Logan away from his body so they were facing each other. He was watching as the little boy wiggled his tiny body and happily looked up to his father's bright blue eyes which matched his own.

All of a sudden a frown formed on his face and he started to cry. "Hey, shhh." Matt soothed, "we don't wanna wake mommy." He whispered as he brought Logan up to his shoulder and patted him on the back. He had eaten a little while ago so Matt figured he needed to burp. After patting him for a few minutes he let out a tiny burp and that seemed to please him.

Matt got up out of his chair and started to walk and rock the baby gently. "So now that your here you've got a lot to learn." He whispered to the Logan. "You may have guessed already but I'm your dad, Matt, and that beautiful woman is your mommy. You see she's the most amazing woman because she saves people in her ambulance because she's the best paramedic in all of Chicago and she keeps me out of trouble and loves the both of us. I mean I see why she loves you but I am just one lucky man aren't I?" Matt asked the baby who just responded with a giggle. "Me I'm boring just a firefighter, but don't listen to your uncle, firemen are always better than cops." He explained to the boy as he put emphasis on the always. "I guess you'll figure it all out in time but just know you have a huge family here to help you." Matt told Logan before he adjusted him and kissed him in the forehead.

"Are you trying to teach him early?" Gabby asked sleepily from the bed.

"Hey did I wake you up?" He asked worried and wandered back over to the side of her bed and sat on the edge.

"No but honestly I didn't think you could get any better." She grinned at him and reached out to brush the short brown hairs on top of Logan's head.

"What do you mean?" He looked at her confused.

"I already knew I was lucky to have such a sexy husband but seeing you with our baby," She paused and smirked at him, "damn."

Matt laughed and gave Gabby a kiss. "I love you. I can't believe we have a baby, I've wanted kids for so long and I can't imagine being anywhere else but right here, right now, with you."

Gabby grinned up at him, "I love you so much." She gave him another kiss and then kissed Logan. "We've got our own little family."

"Our perfect little family." Matt agreed with a smile.

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! Sorry this chapter is late this week is busy for me so I apologize for late chapters in advance. I'll do the best I can to post at my usual time but if I can't I'll update as often as I can. Thanks again and I love seeing all your reviews! -chill81**


	46. Chapter 46

Matt stayed up most of the night with little Logan while Gabby slept. He took care of the baby during the night and only woke Gabby up when Logan was hungry. The next morning Gabby's doctor told her she and Logan could be discharged and Gabby happily gathered the things that people had brought for the baby. Matt called his sister and she brought Gabby's car from where it was parked at the mall and the car seat from the house when she came to see her nephew.

Once the car was packed and Logan was secure in his car seat, Matt started the drive toward their house. Gabby looked in the back seat and could see Logan sleeping peacefully in the mirror. Her phone rang in her lap and she saw it was a text. "Shay wants us to stop by the house." She told Matt and at the next intersection he turned toward the firehouse.

"Okay, I needed to stop by and get my things from yesterday anyway." Matt said as Gabby took in the fact that he was still wearing his lieutenant's shirt that was his work uniform.

They pulled up in front of 51 and Matt grabbed Logan and his car seat out of the back seat and carried him through the garage door. It was 7:30 so there was only 30 minutes left in the shift. Kelly looked around the side of an open compartment door on the Squad rig and grinned. "Hey." He grinned. "Starting the kid early." Kelly joked as he tucked the saw back into the compartment and shut the door.

"No way." Gabby laughed and moved closer to Matt who wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Come on. The guys will be thrilled to see you." Kelly said and led them into the common room. "Hey look who I found." he said as he crossed the room to get some coffee.

"There they are!" Shay squealed and ran over and gave Gabby a hug and turned to Logan who Matt had placed on the table. She pulled him out of his car seat and snuggled him to her chest.

Matt sat down in a chair next to her and pulled Gabby into his lap. She wrapped an arm around his neck and leaned back into his warm arms. "He is going to be so spoiled." Gabby whispered in Matt's ear and he laughed.

"Yes he is." He whispered back as they watched Shay rock him and Brett, Severide and a few others peered over her shoulder.

"He's so cute!" Brett smiled and looked up at Matt and Gabby who just grinned back.

The men and women of 51 passed Logan around and we're taking turns holding him. Matt was watching them nervously as they handed his little baby around. "Are you okay? " Gabby asked softly.

"They scare me with him." Matt admitted as he shifted to get a better look at Logan.

Gabby laughed softly. "You trust them to follow you into a buring building but not to hold your baby?"

"Exactly because if I get hurt it's no big deal but if anything happens to him I would kill them." He whispered back.

Gabby squeezed his hand. " I really love this side of you but he will be okay so calm down." She laughed and kissed the side of his head. He massaged Gabby's side but his eyes never left Logan. Gabby rolled her eyes and turned Matt's head and planted a kiss on his lips. Matt swallowed and let out a sigh. He tried to deepen the kiss but Gabby pulled back. "We still have to be semi professional because we are at the house." She reminded him and Matt just rolled his eyes.

"You're a tease." He whispered to her and pulled her closer into his chest and resumed watching the men pass around Logan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A little while later when that shift ended Gabby and Matt took little Logan to their real house. Matt carried him through the front door, "well here we are little man." He said as he walked into the kitchen and sat his car seat on the counter. Matt picked him up somewhat awkwardly and turned as if to show him the house. "What do you think?" Matt smiled and the sleepy baby blinked a couple of times then fell back asleep.

"Come here." Gabby grinned and reached her hands out to take baby Logan into her arms. At the sound of his mother's voice he woke up and kicked his little feet. She stood in the open room and looked at him. Matt wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her head before resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I can't believe we're actually parents." Matt whispered as he rubbed his calloused thumb over Logan's smooth skin.

"Yeah." Gabby sighed and Matt started to lead them to the couch where he gently pulled Gabby down on top of him. "He looks so much like you." Gabby smiled and brought his head up to her lips to softly kiss the side of his head. "I love you my sweet little boy." She whispered.

Matt rubbed his hand over Gabby's arm in small circles. "I love you two so much." He breathed into her hair. Gabby relaxed further back into his muscular chest and sighed.

"I love you too." Gabby grinned, "and I know Logan loves his daddy too."

Matt smiled, " It's hard to believe that yesterday morning there was only two Casey's living in this house."

"Yeah it is." Gabby laughed softly. After that they both fell silent as they watched the slight rise and fall of little Logan's chest as he drifted to sleep in his mother's arms.

**So this story is back! Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews and I'm sorry I was gone so long. I was getting a little burnt out on this story and I was busy but now I have new ideas and I am ready to write! I want to warn you guys pep band/basketball season has started so please be patient and I will update as much as possible! Thanks so much! -chill81**


	47. Chapter 47

Matt rolled out of bed and sleepily walked down the hall into the nursery. He walked over to the crib and bent over to pick up the wailing baby. He snuggled Logan to his chest and bounced him a few times before taking him to the changing table to change his diaper. Once Matt had Logan's diaper back on he wondered over to the rocking chair he had made and sat down. He rocked the baby who was making soft coos and grunting.

"How are you doing little man." He whispered and started to rock the baby. Logan looked up at his dad and gave him a small toothless grin. "Do you like it here? Are you comfortable now that your settled in?" Matt tickled the baby's stomach.

Logan was two weeks old today and Matt felt guilty for all of the work Gabby was having to do. He returned to the firehouse when Logan was a week old so he only missed two full shifts. Gabby was having to take care of Logan all of the time when Matt was on shift and insisted on taking care of him all night the night before a shift so he would be well rested and be able to stay aware and safe. On his off days Matt took care of Logan as much as possible so Gabby could sleep but it was hard because they were both tired.

"You should get some sleep bud, auntie Shay's comming over tomorrow and she'll be mad if she can't play with you because your asleep." Matt told the little boy with a smile and continued to rock him gently in the rocking chair. When he saw Logan wasn't falling asleep he got up to put him in the crib but as soon as he started to walk away Logan let out a cry. "Are you being stubborn?" Matt asked as he returned to Logan's crib side and lifted him up. "Daddy needs some sleep buddy." He sighed as he got an idea.

Matt walked into the living room with Logan in one arm and a diaper and wipes in the other. Matt settled down on the couch with Logan content on his chest and with in minutes he was fast asleep even before Logan was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning Gabby woke up and rolled over to feel for Matt but his side of the bed was cold. She sat up, looked around and slid out of bed. She walked into the nursery and became alarmed when she couldn't find her baby in his crib. Gabby ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Matt?" She called out, her voice full of worry. A sigh escaped her lips when she saw Logan in Matt's arms and both of them asleep on the couch. She chuckled and went back into the kitchen to make coffee before settling into the chair opposite Matt and watched the rise and fall of his chest.

When Matt opened his eyes he let out a big yawn and then smiled at Gabby. "Morning babe," He grinned.

"Morning," Gabby smiled back, "do you want some coffee?" She asked and stood up.

"Please." He murmured and adjusted himself so he was sitting up but not disturbing Logan, who had finally fallen asleep.

"You boys camping out?" Gabby grinned and handed Matt a mug and sat on the other end of the couch.

"Something like that. Logan was fussy and wanted to be held but I wanted to sleep and didn't want to wake you up." Matt chuckled and Gabby ran her hand over his leg. Gabby gently lifted Logan off Matt's chest and laid him down on the chair and she took Logan's spot on Matt.

He sat his cup down and his strong arms encircled her small waist. "It seems like I haven't seen you in forever." She sighed and buried her head in the crook of his neck.

"I know what you mean." He whispered and kissed the side of her head. "I love you." Matt sighed and Gabby softly kissed his neck.

"I love you too. It's crazy." She paused before she tried to continue. "It's crazy that you can love some one immeadiately and unconditionaly." She shook her head and looked at little Logan sleeping peacefully on the chair.

"Yeah," Matt sighed, "I love our perfect little family so much." He grinned.

Gabby pushed herself up and kept her hands placed on Matt's biceps. She leaned down and planted a sweet kiss on his lips that they quickly deepened. Matt ran his hands over her hips and moved up to her neck to pull her in closer. Only moments later soft whines came from the chair and Gabby and Matt both knew that was Logan's hungry cry. "Of course." Gabby sighed and hopped up to get Logan.

She grabbed him and sat back down on the couch to feed him. Matt handed her a pillow for him to rest on and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Your really amazing you know that?" Matt grinned and rubbed Gabby's arm.

"No I'm not." She shook her head and smiled.

"Yes you are, you grew our baby inside of you, delivered him, he's beautiful, healthy, and even now you are like super mom, feeding, changing, baths, burping." Matt shook his head. "I feel guilty for not helping you more." He frowned and nuzzled her hair.

"Well you're super dad." Gabby smiled. "May I remind you, you slept on the couch with him last night so I could sleep." She reminded him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"It's nothing." He shook his head.

"Plus without you I never would have been able to do this." Gabby sighed and closed her eyes.

"We lean on eachother. I will always need you." Matt sighed and kissed Gabby's hair. "I'll need you forever, I could never do this alone. I couldn't live without you."

Gabby let out a light sigh and smiled. "I couldn't live with out you either."


	48. Chapter 48

The next shift the guys were sitting in the common room of 51 looking at Casey. He had his head on the table and was asleep. Otis and Cruz were trying to plan a prank on him.

"Leave him alone." Hermann scolded and smacked the back of Otis' head. "You would be tired too if you had a three week old."

"Probably, but I don't have a baby and this is going to be a good one." Otis said as he leaned over to mess with the lieutenant.

"Otis if you touch me everyone will be running truck drills." Matt mumbled.

"Leave him alone!" Mouch and Hermann yelled at the same time and Cruz shifted Otis' chair away from Matt.

The guys started to settle down when the doors opened. A tired looking Gabby shambled in with Logan in his car seat. She pressed her finger to her lips when she saw Matt had his head down. She gently put the car seat and the sleeping baby on the table and walked up behind Matt who was at the head of the table. Gabby wrapped her arms around his torso and kissed his neck.

"Gabby." Matt smiled and sat up. "What are you doing here?" He grinned as she bent over to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Wanted to come by and see you." She smiled and watched as Matt pulled Logan's car seat over to him and picked his baby up.

"I'm glad you guys stopped by." He smiled and cradled Logan in his arms. "These hooligans were just about to go run truck drills but you may have saved them." Matt laughed as he talked to his baby.

"Hey I didn't touch you!" Otis yelled and threw his hands up in the air.

"You were planning a prank, I can still punish you if I want." Matt raised his eyebrows and Cruz slapped Otis to tell him to shut up.

"You guy better not mess with him he's sleep deprived." Gabby laughed and ran her hand down the back of his neck and played with the little hairs she found there.

"She's right and all I would be doing is supervising because it would be your punishment." Matt smiled and the guys shut up and looked away from him. "That's what I thought." He smiled and turned his attention back to Logan. "I've got to out these knuckleheads in their place don't I?" He asked the wide eyed baby.

"And to think I thought you were going soft on the guys since the baby." Gabby smiled at him.

"I probably am I'm just too tired to remember right now." Matt grinned at the baby in his arms. "You're pretty exhausting little man." he told the baby who just let out a gurgle in response.

"Yeah he's going soft," Cruz whispered to Hermann who was now in the kitchen.

"I heard that." Matt said and shot Cruz a look. "They're asking for it." He mumbled and shook his head at his boy. Gabby pulled a chair up beside Matt and sat down at his side.

"So how has shift been?" Gabby asked.

"Uneventful, " Matt sighed. "We haven't had a single call but ambo has had a couple, they're out now." He said and smiled at her.

"Ah. Yeah I knew something was up, Shay hasn't kidnapped Logan." Gabby laughed and Matt nodded in agreement.

"She can't have him." Matt smiled and snuggled the boy to his chest lovingly. After a minute of talking Logan started to cry.

"He might be hungry." Gabby sighed and stood up.

"We can go to my office," Matt said as he lead the way down the hall and into the bunk room with the crying baby. As Gabby got settled on Matt's bed he closed the blinds and locked the door so none of the guys could see in while Gabby was feeding Logan. Matt sat down next to Gabby and started to rub her back.

"I really miss you." She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm right here." He whispered and kissed her.

"I know it's just when your on shift I'm alone with Logan and I worry about you all of the time. Like what if you get hurt and I'm not there to help you and you never come back to us. And- and them what? Then-" Gabby rambled quickly as tears strated to fall down her cheeks.

"Hey hey hey. Gabby baby why would you say that?" He asked her softly and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest while being careful of Logan. "None of that is going to happen." He insisted and kissed her. "It's okay." He soothed het as she cried into his chest.

"I'm sorry." She hiccupped into his chest and tried to sit up but Matt kept her pinned in his arms.

"Don't apologize. I worry about you too." He sighed. "I want to be able to help you, and obviously there is something wrong."

"I'm just," Gabby sighed and melted into him, "tired." She closed her eyes and Matt kissed her again.

"How about this, we get Shay to watch Logan tomorrow night and we go out." He proposed softly.

"That sounds nice, but-" She started but Matt cut her off.

"No buts, you know Shay will take great care of him and we can spend some time together." He rubbed her back softly.

"Okay," She sighed, "that'll be fun." She said to convince herself.

"Yes it will." Matt grinned and let Gabby go so she could sit Logan up to burp him. "Let me." He smiled and took the baby. Matt started to burp the baby as Gabby fixed her shirt. After a moment of patting Logan's back the baby burped and spit up on Matt. "Oh come on man." Matt sighed and wiped the milk off his shirt but he knew he would need to change his shirt. He stood up and handed Logan to Gabby before pulling his shirt off just as the bells rang. "Are you kidding me?" He whispered and went to the door.

"Be safe." Gabby called as he left.

Matt quickly ran to his locker and got a shirt and headded back through the bunk room. When he saw the worried look on her face he went back in and gave her a quick but passionate kiss. "I love you." He said as he ran back out and hopped into 81.


	49. Chapter 49

Matt walked through the door of the house and dropped his bag. "Gabby?" He called out as he kicked his boots off. He walked toward the kitchen where he could hear the clanking of dishes.

"In here." Gabby called as he rounded the corner. "Hey, how was shift?" She smiled.

She was holding Logan to her chest, and was wearing sweat pants and one of Matt's shirts, her dark hair was falling out of her ponytail and she had no makeup on but Matt grinned at the sight of her beauty. He walked up to her and planted a passionate kiss on her lips before he bent over to kiss Logan's smooth forehead. "Shift was good." He smiled.

"What's gotten into you?" Gabby smiled and looked up into his bright blue, love filled eyes.

"I'm just happy to see my beautiful family." He grinned and gave Gabby a hug. "Oh and we're all set for tonight. Shay is all excited to come over to watch Logan." Matt tickled the baby's belly and he smiled.

"Yeah," Gabby said apprehensively, "about that." She looked down and avoided Matt's gaze.

"No way, you can't just bail on this." He said hurt.

"It's just that I'm worried about Logan, I mean he's so tiny and what if Shay needs help or runs out of milk or diapers-" Matt cut Gabby's worrying off with a kiss.

"Do you have lots of milk stored and lots of diapers?" He asked while already knowing the answer. Gabby nodded her head yes, "Do you trust Shay and isn't she an extremely capable paramedic and person in general?" Gabby looked down sheepishly and nodded yes again. "Everything is going to be fine; it's just a few hours." Matt assured her.

"I guess you're right." She offered him a small smile.

"I am." He smiled and Gabby rolled her eyes. Just then Logan started to cry softly. "Come here, I've got this." Matt grinned and took Logan from Gabby's arms. He took Logan into the living room where there was a basket of diapers, wipes and other baby things so they weren't constantly running up to the nursery to grab things. He quickly changed Logan's diaper and then carried him back into the kitchen to get him a bottle.

"I'm glad you're ready to help." Gabby smiled as she unloaded the dishwasher.

"I'm definitely ready to help." He smiled and put the bottle up to Logan's lips.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening Matt was sitting in the living room with Logan while Gabby was upstairs getting ready to leave. There came a knock at the door and Matt went to let Shay in. "Thanks for doing this Shay." He smiled at her.

"Of course," She smiled, "Hey baby." She squealed and looked down at Logan smiling. He giggled and she took him from Matt as Gabby came down the stairs. "Hey Gabby." Shay smiled at her.

"Hey Shay, thanks for doing this." Gabby smiled.

"Yeah, no problem," She smiled "you guys should go and have some fun."

"Call us if there are any problems, you know where everything is." Gabby called as she and Matt walked out the door.

"We'll be fine." Shay smiled and closed the door behind them.

Matt and Gabby walked out and got into Matt's truck and started to drive to Molly's. When they arrived, they went back into the kitchen so they could be alone. Matt helped Gabby make spaghetti for dinner and their cooking mostly consisted of Gabby cooking and Matt hugging her waist and making her laugh. Once dinner was ready they sat at the table in the back and each had a beer with dinner.

"I haven't had a beer in nine months." Gabby laughed. She could have a few drinks because she had some milk stored for Logan while it got out of her system.

"I'm glad we decided to do this." Matt smiled and scooted closer to Gabby and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Me too." She smiled and leaned over to kiss him. "I love you." Gabby whispered once they broke the kiss.

"I love you too." Matt grinned and kissed her again. After a while of talking Gabby and Matt walked out to the truck, laughing the entire way. Matt started the drive home and when they were almost there Gabby unbuckled her seat belt and slid across the seat to sit right up against Matt.

"We should stay out a little longer, I'm sure Shay wouldn't mind." Gabby whispered and ran her hand on the inside of Matt's thigh and let her fingers inch up his leg.

His breath caught in his throat at the unexpected gesture. "We should." He sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Gabby turned her body towards him and started to run her hands up and down his chest and over his belt buckle and the upper part of his thighs. She started to place soft kisses over his neck as he turned into a dark lot. Gabby could feel Matt's reaction in her hands as they brushed up and down his legs. They came to a stop in a dark alley and Matt killed the engine before quickly pushing Gabby back and climbing on top of her as a guttural growl escaped his lips. Gabby let out a giggle as Matt pinned her to the seat with his hips and kissed her neck. She grabbed the hem of his blue sweater and pulled it up over his head and tossed it aside before she started to claw at his back. Matt pulled Gabby's shirt off and ran soft kisses down her stomach and between her breasts.

When Gabby started to unbuckle Matt's belt he grabbed her hands. "Are you sure about this?" He asked softly and Gabby could see the desire burning in his eyes.

"Absolutely." She sighed and pulled his mouth to hers but Matt pulled back again.

"Tell me if anything hurts." He told Gabby softly, understanding that she might not be healed from having Logan, and she nodded. Matt passionately kissed Gabby as she unbuckled his belt and pushed off his jeans.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later Gabby opened her eyes and took in the warm feeling of Matt's slightly sweaty chest moving up and down beneath her with each breath. She moved her head and rested her chin on his chest so she could look at his face. His bright blue eyes were examining her smooth caramel cheeks, soft kissable lips, cute little nose, and landed on her deep brown eyes. "Hi," Gabby finally whispered, breaking the silence.

"Hi beautiful." Matt whispered back.

"What time is it?" She asked and Matt looked at his watch which was pretty much the only clothing he had left on.

"10:00." He told her and she quickly sat up.

"Oh no we've got to get home; I didn't want to hold Shay up all night." After Gabby and Matt pulled their clothes on and quickly drove the rest of the way home. When they pulled into the drive Gabby ran up to the door and went in with Matt close behind. "I'm so sorry we're late Shay, how was Logan?" she asked as she went into the kitchen.

"He was great, took a bottle around 8:30 and has been out ever since." Shay gave her a reassured smile. "Did you guys have fun?"

"Yeah," Matt smiled. "Thanks for this Shay." He said as he walked up behind Gabby and rubbed her shoulders.

"No problem." Shay smiled and gave Gabby a knowing look. "I'll get going now, just let me know if you want me to watch Logan again, I'd love to."

"I'll let you know." Gabby smiled. "Thanks again, goodnight." She said as Shay walked out the door.

"Goodnight," She called back and they shut the door.

"That was crazy." Gabby smiled.

"I'm glad we went out." Matt grinned back.

"Me too." Gabby said and they slowly walked upstairs and stopped in the nursery where they found Logan, fast asleep. They each gave him a soft kiss before going to their room. Once they lay down Matt wrapped his arms around Gabby and pulled her into his chest. "I love you." She sighed.

"I love you too. I'm glad we spent some time together." He whispered.

"Me too," She smiled "We better get some sleep before Logan wakes up." Gabby reminded him.

"Yeah," He whispered. "I love you, sleep well baby." Matt smiled and kissed her hair.

"I love you too, goodnight." Gabby mumbled before she drifted off to sleep.


	50. Chapter 50

**Two weeks later**

Gabby crawled out of bed and went into Logan's room to sooth the crying baby. Logan was almost 6 weeks old and he was only waking up once or twice a night. "Hello my baby boy." Gabby smiled as she lifted him out of the crib. She carried him down to the kitchen and warmed up a bottle of milk she had stored in the fridge.

Logan was sitting in his bouncy seat on the counter whimpering impatiently. "Hold on." Gabby called softly as she pulled the bottle out of the microwave. Once it was in Logan's mouth Gabby pulled him out of the seat with one hand and kept the bottle steady with the other. She walked to the couch and sat down with him.

It was the middle of the night and Matt was on shift so she turned on the TV so she would have something to do while Logan ate. The channel was on the local news and it flashed to a breaking news story. All of a sudden the image of a fire filled the screen and Gabby was instantly interested when she realized it was in 51's district.

The camera cut to an image of truck 81 with its areal raised up to the roof and she could see Cruz and Mouch climbing up to vent the roof. She was focused on the screen and was looking for the one face she was worried about the most.

After a few long minutes Gabby could tell the fire was growing and she hadn't seen Matt yet. The smoke had turned black and all of a sudden there was a flashover and large burst of ash and flame came shooting out of the door and was licking at the heels of the fireman that ran out before it. He fell to the ground coughing and two others came over to help him up and drag him away.

Gabby watched him walk to the edge of the screen and a blond woman, Shay, walked up to him. When he took his helmet off Gabby let out a worried gasp. It was Matt. He sat down in the grass and pulled a bottle of water out of his pocket. After a few moments the camera moved and Gabby couldn't see him anymore.

She fell back into the couch and closed her eyes. Logan was squirming around on her lap and Gabby lifted him and snuggled him to her chest. He was softly cooing and Gabby pulled her knees up to her chest and laid Logan on her legs. She looked over his face at all of the similarities between him and Matt. Logan had Matt's bright blue eyes, and grin, complete with dimples. His short hair was a dirty blond which was a mix between them and his skin tone was a good balance between theirs. Gabby lay down on the couch and snuggled Logan and prayed Matt was okay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While she was watching the news story Gabby fell asleep on the couch with Logan. The next morning she woke up to the sound of the key in the front lock. She jumped off the couch and after she made sure Logan couldn't roll off the couch ran to the door to see Matt walking in.

"Matt!" She yelled and ran and tangled herself in his arms. "You're okay." She sighed.

"Of course I am." He smiled and ran his hand through her hair. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" He asked and she pulled back and looked at him.

"I was up with Logan and saw the fire on the news. I saw you almost get fried." Gabby sighed and looked at him worried.

"Oh, that, it was nothing." He assured her and pulled her in closer.

"I was worried." Gabby whispered.

"It's okay." Matt said and pulled her into a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." She told him and gave him another kiss.

"So," He asked looking around, "Where's my baby." He grinned at her and she took his hand and led him into the living room where he spotted the sleeping boy on the couch. Matt picked up Logan and pulled him into his chest. He kissed Logan's forehead and rubbed his back. "I won't lie, after the close call I really wanted to see you guys." He wrapped one arm around Gabby and she hugged his waist.

"All I saw was you running out of the building then being taken to Shay, I wanted to see you too." She sighed and breathed in the smell of his musky cologne.

"But I'm okay." He smiled and sat down on the couch and pulled Gabby down into his side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night after dinner Gabby and Matt were lying on the couch and Logan was asleep in the pack and play across the room. Matt was watching the Blackhawks game on low volume and Gabby had dozed off at his side. His eyes were starting to droop closed when his phone started to ring.

Matt quickly fished it out of his pocket and unlocked it. "Hello?" He asked softly as he stood up and carefully crawled out from behind Gabby.

"Casey." Boden's deep voice came through the phone. "We have a problem." He told Matt, who was listening intently to every word, the bad situation.

"Okay." Matt said softly. "I need to go tell Gabby." He said and then after they exchanged goodbyes Matt hung up.

Matt walked slowly back into the living room and sat down on the couch in front of Gabby. "Gabby, baby, wake up." He whispered as he gently shook her arm. "Come on, wake up." Matt kept trying to wake her up until he was successful and Gabby sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"What is it?" She yawned.

"I have to go." He muttered quietly.

"WhatH?" She asked tiredly. "What do you mean, you have to go?" Gabby said as a confused look came upon her face.

"Boden called me, there is a fire in Indianapolis and they want us to help." He told her then paused to let it sink in.

"What, you can't go." Gabby said sadly. "Logan and I need you here." She said and buried her head in Matt's shoulder.

"I know baby," Matt whispered, his voice filling with sadness, "I don't want to go."


	51. Chapter 51

Gabby was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands while Matt tried to reassure her. "It's an industrial park fire and it has started to move, it's almost out of the park and if we don't go now it's going to spread to the residential areas around it." He sighed and put an arm around her.

"What if something happens and you're so far away?" She questioned as she tried to get him to stay.

"I'll be fine and so will you guys. I don't want to go but I have to." He said quietly before he stood up. He walked over to where Logan was sleeping and lifted him up.

"Who is going?" She asked quietly.

"Truck and Squad from 51 and a few more companies from other houses. They have called in crews from St. Louis too." He sighed and sat down with Logan. "Engine 51 and Ambo are staying here. Maybe Shay can help you after she gets off shift." Gabby was going to be off for one more shift but had to go back three days from now.

"Maybe, and I'll make sure but I think my mom said she would watch Logan while we're on shift. If you're not back he'll have a place to stay while I'm at work." She leaned into his shoulder. "When do you have to leave?" She whispered softly.

"They will be here within an hour." He sighed and wrapped an arm around her. "Boden said they won't keep us longer than a week." Matt whispered.

"A week!?" Gabby cried, "What am I supposed to do without you for a week?" She shook her head, "And what if you guys get tired, and careless? Working for an entire week is dangerous!" Gabby said shaking, trying to control her emotions so she stood up and started to pace.

"Gabby, they'll work something out, they will keep us safe. We aren't going to be stupid, I'm not going to let anything happen to any of my men and they will not let anything happen to me." Matt assured her as he laid Logan on the couch and stood up too.

Gabby turned to face him and Matt could see the tears starting to build up in her eyes. "It's just-" she started then trailed off as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Come here." Matt said and pulled her roughly into his strong arms. He hugged her tightly against his muscled chest and she cried out a few tears onto his shirt. "We're going to be okay." He whispered and brushed his hand through her soft hair. "It's only for a few days."

Gabby pulled her head out of his shirt and wiped her eyes. "Okay, just promise me you'll be safe." She whispered softly.

"I promise." He whispered back and leaned in to softly kiss her. "I promise." He sighed again. "I love you." Matt kissed the side of her head and Gabby laid her head on his chest.

"I love you too." She sighed. Matt sat down on the couch and put his hands on her hips to pull her down on top of him. Once Gabby was settled on his lap she picked up Logan and held him between them. Matt encircled his family with his warm arms and planted a kiss on the side of Gabby's head.

"I'm going to miss you guys." He sighed as he rubbed small circles on Gabby's back. "I'll call or text whenever I can so promise me you will have plenty of pictures to send to me so I don't get too homesick." Matt offered her a small smile.

"I promise, I'll send you pictures." Gabby mumbled with her frown still firmly planted on her lips.

"Okay stop." He said with his voice firm.

"What?" Gabby asked as she shook her head and kept her eyes trained on Logan in her lap.

"Stop frowning. If I have to go away to a dangerous fire and not see your beautiful face or our beautiful baby for I don't even know how long, the only thing I want to see before I have to leave is your beautiful smile." Matt rubbed his hand on Gabby's cheek and forced her to look up at him. "Come on, let me see it." He pleaded.

Gabby looked up at him shyly and offered him the smallest of smiles. "Happy?" She asked sadly and tried to control the tears brimming in her eyes.

"No." Matt frowned and pulled Gabby closer to him so he could kiss her cheek. "Gabby everything is going to be okay." He squeezed her into him and sighed. When he let go of her she sat back and Matt reached around her and lifted up a groggy Logan and nestled him in his neck. "I need a favor buddy." He whispered. "I have to go but I promise you I'll come back in one piece but I need you to take care of your beautiful mommy and be a good boy and behave for her and your Grandma. Okay?"

Gabby ran her hand through Matt's hair and played with the short hairs on the back of his neck. "Do you need to take anything with you?" Gabby asked sadly.

"No but I need to put on work pants and they are bringing my turnout gear in the truck." He sighed and Gabby stood up so Matt could get up too. They went upstairs and after Matt changed they walked into the nursery where Matt took Logan out of Gabby's arms and snuggled him into his chest. "Be good for mommy while I'm gone. I love you Logan." Matt whispered and kissed his son before he laid him down in the crib. He sighed and wrapped an arm around Gabby and they walked downstairs.

As they passed through the foyer they saw truck 81 pull up outside. Gabby let out a sigh as she wrapped her arms around Matt's waist. He returned the hug and pulled her in tighter than he had ever hugged her before. "Indianapolis is so far away." She whimpered into his shirt.

"I know baby." He whispered. "I love you. I'll be back soon." Matt sighed.

"I love you too. Be safe." Gabby told him, her voice full of force.

"I will." He whispered and Gabby stepped away from him. He opened the door and stepped through the threshold. Matt turned back toward Gabby and pulled her into his arms one final time. He buried his face in her hair and sighed. Matt put one hand on either side of her face and pulled her into a deep kiss.

Once they needed air they separated and Matt gave her one last hug. "I love you." He whispered one final time before he walked down the steps. Gabby followed him to the edge and held onto his hand until she absolutely had to let go.

"I love you too." She whispered as she watched Matt walk down to 81 and get in his seat. She saw him look back at her and she waved at him as the truck pulled away from the curb and disappeared down the street. Gabby turned and went back into the house and shut the door. She went upstairs and fell into bed.

She pulled Matt's pillow into her chest and started to cry out of worry and frustration. She finally stopped crying sometime later and tried to fall asleep. However when she couldn't fall asleep she just started to pray for Matt's safety.

**Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed please keep it up and Merry Christmas! -chill81**


	52. Chapter 52

After a long ride down the interstate Matt and the guys made it to Indianapolis just after midnight. They were directed to a firehouse that was put in charge of organizing the companies that were being sent in from other cities. The guys stayed out at the trucks while Matt and Kelly walked into the busy station.

They were directed to the briefing room where there was an organized meeting between all of the lieutenants. There was a man in the front of the room who stood up and silenced all of the other people talking. "I'm Battalion Chief Lenning of the Indianapolis Fire Department and have been put in charge of organizing all of the companies from other cities. The situation is, there was a fire that broke out in an industrial park and we are trying to contain it. We have split you guys into groups and we are going to post you on each side of the park and move you as needed. There are two 8 hour shifts for each zone and there are 6 zones. The trucks in your group will be in charge of your zone. Now Chief Edwards will read you your groups and tell you your zones."

A tall man, who was about Matt's age stood up next. "Thanks for coming to help out guys." He greeted before he started to read off companies. "Zone three St. Louis engine 12, truck 93 and Chicago truck 81 and Squad 3." Edwards rattled off and the four lieutenants left the room together. As they walked down the hall Matt looked over to the other two men, one was younger than him and the other was closer to Hermann's age.

"I'm Matt Casey, truck 81." He said and stuck out his hand to the one closest to him.

"Eric Peterman truck 93," The young man smiled, "nice to meet you."

Matt then looked to the older man, "Keith Grimes, engine 12." He smiled and Matt could hear a slight southern accent.

The two men then looked at Kelly, "Kelly Severide Squad 3." He said and shook both of the men's hands. "I can't believe I got stuck with you." Kelly smiled and elbowed Matt in the ribs.

"Yeah well we have to deal with the squad guys. I mean I can't believe they wanted you Mr. Last-to-the-fire-first-to-the-dinner-table." Matt joked back.

"Do you know each other?" Peterman asked with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah we work out of the same house." Matt told them as they waked out the front door. When they walked past 81 and the Squad the men all looked to their Lieutenants. "These are Lieutenants Grimes and Peterman they're going to be working with us. You guys better listen to them and give them twice as much respect as you give us." Matt said and looked around the group.

All of the men nodded and the other two Lieutenants walked over to their own trucks. They drove out to the industrial park and found their zone and started to get all of the hoses set up and concentrated on a silo of flammable chemicals with flames inching toward it.

The four companies worked together perfectly and accomplished their jobs effectively. They were on the defensive and their job was to keep the silo from catching on fire. Their shift passed quickly and before they knew it they were headed over to a firehouse where they could get some rest and food.

Matt and Kelly sat down at the table next to Eric and Keith with their meal. After a few seconds they started talking and the men from all four trucks were sitting together and talking happily.

"How did Gabby take the news of you leaving?" Kelly asked Matt.

"Not well, as you could imagine." He sighed. "I think she was glad you guys came so you could look out for me." Matt said and shook his head.

"You married Casey?" Keith asked as he took another bite.

"Yeah," Matt smiled, "She's great."

"How long have you been married?" He asked curiously.

"Less than a year." Matt responded.

"Any kids?" Peterman asked innocently.

"Yeah, we have a son named Logan; he's almost 6 weeks old." Matt grinned.

"Wow it must have been hard to leave." Eric commented.

"Yeah," he nodded, "especially since Gabby has to go back to work in two days." He sighed.

"Where does she work?" Keith asked.

"At the firehouse, she was a firefighter but went back to the ambulance when she got pregnant." Matt said nodding. "What about you guys, family?"

"I've got a gorgeous wife of 25 years and two boys one's 23 and the other is 20." Keith smiled, "My oldest is going through the academy right now."

"Wow good for him." Matt smiled.

"What about you Eric?" Keith asked.

"Nope, no girlfriend no wife no kids." Eric shrugged. "Kelly?"

"I've got a beautiful girlfriend named Sylvie, no kids. But I seem to be in the presence of a couple of people with experience so I've got a question but this has to stay quiet and away from the guys." Kelly said and looked between Matt and Keith but especially Matt.

"What do you got Severide?" Matt asked and leaned back in his chair with a curious look on his face.

"I was going to ask Sylvie to marry me so any tips?" He whispered.

"Wow." Matt grinned, "Congrats man." He said and Keith and Eric agreed.

"Thanks but I have no ideas." Kelly sighed.

"Does Shay know?" Matt asked and Kelly shook his head no.

"Wait whose Shay?" Eric asked.

"She's my best friend." Eric nodded but Kelly still caught the strange look on his face when he said she. "She's a lesbian." He said so there was no confusion.

"Well," Matt started, "she isn't very good with secrets but she helped me pick Gabby's ring but also almost told her like three times." Matt said with a laugh.

"I'm sure I'll ask her advice rather than risk the wrath of not telling her." Kelly laughed.

"Good idea." Matt smiled.

"Well, it's been a while since I proposed but key to a happy marriage is keeping you wife happy." Keith smiled at the young men. "Well I'm going to go get some rest but I'll talk to you guys later." He said and got up from the table. The other three got up too and Matt wondered out to where the trucks were parked and sat on the front of 81 and pulled his phone out.

He pressed it up to his ear and waited. "Hey." Gabby's soft voice came through the phone. "How are you guys doing?"

"Just another day on the job." He smiled at the sound of her voice. "How are you guys?" Matt asked.

"We're fine, we miss you though." Gabby sighed. She was sitting in the living room with Logan on her lap cooing softly. He was wearing a cute onesie that said, '_Sometimes I pretend I'm a fire truck and I scream' _on it. "You sound tired." She said softly.

"Yeah, we've been up all night." He said. "The fire has a lot of fuel." He sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. "How was Logan last night?" Matt asked.

"He slept through the night." Gabby answered.

"Really?" Matt smiled proudly. "He must be trying to behave for you." He said through a yawn.

"Yeah," She whispered, "go get some sleep."

"I'm fine." He replied, not wanting to hang up from talking to her.

"Go on, call me later. I love you." Gabby smiled.

"Fine," Matt said giving in and standing up, "I love you too, give Logan a kiss for me." He said softly.

"I will. Stay safe." She replied.

"I will. Bye." Matt said before he hung up and walked back inside to find someplace to sleep.


	53. Chapter 53

Gabby rolled over in her bed and stretched happily. Her hand hit a warm body and she smiled and snuggled up to him. It had been two days since Matt left and she had to go back to work tomorrow. Gabby let out a sigh and opened her eyes to see Logan's sleeping face next to her. After her first day without Matt she was upset so she decided to bring Logan to sleep in her room.

She crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom for a quick shower before Logan woke up. After she shampooed her hair she got out quickly and ran into the bedroom to grab her ringing phone off of the table before it woke up the sleeping baby.

"Hello?" She answered anxiously hoping it was Matt because she had failed to check the caller ID.

"Hey Gabs." Matt's tired but sweet voice came through the other side.

"Matt," she sighed with a smile on her face, "how are you? Are you okay? I love you." She gasped out in a rush.

"I'm fine and I love you too." He chuckled. "I just miss you like crazy." He sighed.

"I miss you too. How are the guys?" Gabby asked worried about the rest of the crew too.

"They're good. I think they're getting worn out so maybe they will send us home and bring in another company soon." Matt paused. "I need to see you." He moaned and ran his hand through his hair. "Logan too."

"Hold on, I took a picture last night and I have been waiting to send it." Gabby quickly sent the picture of Logan lying on his back on the floor ginning wearing his baby sized truck 81 shirt and chewing on a stuffed fire truck.

Matt's phone beeped as the picture came in and he laughed when he saw it. "He looks happy." Matt smiled at the phone. "God I miss you." He sighed and Gabby could hear the distress in his voice. He sniffled Gabby's heart broke because she knew after all of the time she spent with him after Hallie died, that was his tell as to when he was really upset.

"I miss you too Matt but everything is going to be alright." She tried to comfort him.

"I know, it's just that I miss you and I'm tired." He paused and let out a sigh. "I just want to come home." Matt let out a pathedic sigh as he tried to steady his breathing.

"I know, I want you home too but you're not done there." Gabby sighed too and sat down on the bed next to Logan who had started to wake up. "Logan's waking up." She said and Matt let out a sigh. "I don't know how he's such a morning person." She chuckled at the grin that had formed on his sweet little cheeks when he looked up at her.

"He deffinately doesn't get that from you." Matt laughed at her sleepily.

"Hey I know you like our days off when we can lie in bed all morning." She smiled back at Logan and wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder to pull him into her lap. He closed his bright blue eyes and nuzzled his head into her shirt, a sign that he was hungry.

"I do like those mornings." Matt chuckled. "When I get home I'm going to trap you in our bed." He grinned and lowered his voice so someone wouldn't overhear and think their conversation was inappropriate.

Gabby put Logan back on the bed and quickly pulled on some sweats and one of Matt's truck shirts. "I swear I've been wearing your clothes more than mine." She smiled and picked up Logan to take him downstairs for breakfast.

"You've always-" Matt was cut off by the sound of the bells ringing.

"What's that?" Gabby asked confused. "I thought you still had like an hour of down time."

"Oh no. That means the fire is spreading." He jumpped out of the chair he was in and walked down the hall. "I have to go I love you." He said quickly.

"I love you to be safe." She responded quickly but the line went dead before she got it all out. Gabby went into the kitchen and quickly made Logan a bottle. She wondered over to the table and sat him in his little bouncy seat and propped up the bottle with a sigh.

She put her head in her hands and let out a sigh. She knew she couldn't be here alone worring all day so she picked up her phone and called Shay.

She answered on the second ring, "hey." Shay greeted softly.

"Hey what are you doing today?" Gabby asked trying to sound happy.

"Sitting around and watching movies with Brett." She yawned.

"Mind if I join?" Gabby asked. "Logan too," she added, "I can't sit here alone any longer." Gabby sighed. The only other adult that had come to their house since Matt left was Antonio who came to see how she was doing.

"Of course not, come on over, we'll have a girls day." Shay said happily to try and cheer up Gabby.

"Okay, I'll be there in an hour?" She said hesitantly to ask permission.

"Great, we'll be here." Shay replied as the girls hung up their phones.

* * *

><p>An hour later Gabby walked up to Severide and Shay's house with Logan. He was wearing a little Blackhawks onsie and Gabby had chosen a pair of comfortable yoga pants and a tshirt, but she had one of Matt's warm CFD jackets wrapped around her shoulders to ward off the cold Chicago breeze.<p>

Once Gabby knocked on the door Shay quickly pulled it open and ushered her inside. Gabby sat on the couch next to Shay and Brett was in a chair across the room. "Thanks for letting me come over." Gabby said softly and smiled at her friend.

"Yeah, no problem," Shay said waving her off. "So how are you doing?" She asked as she picked up Logan and sat back on the couch.

"I'm nervous and bored since I'm alone a lot so all I do is think about how nervous I am." Gabby sighed and shook her head. "How are you guys doing?"

"It's wierd not having Kelly here." Shay said softly and the other two nodded in agreement.

"I get what you're saying." Brett responded. "I'm really worried about Kelly." She said and leaned her head back on the chair. That was when Gabby noticed she was wearing the quilted blue Squad coat that Kelly wore a lot.

"Have you talked to Kelly recently?" Gabby asked, looking between Brett and Shay.

"Yeah last night." Brett said, "I tried to call him this morning but it went straight to voice mail he was probably still asleep or let his phone die like usual."

Gabby sighed, knowing that she had to tell them. "I was talking on the phone with Matt this morning and I could hear the bells going off." She paused. "He said that meant the fire was spreading."

The three sat in silence and the only sound was Logan moving around in Shay's lap. "They'll watch out for each other, they always do." Shay finally said. "Did he say anything else?" She asked.

"Just that he's tired and wants to come home." She sighed softly and ran her hand over Logan's head to smooth down the short brown hairs.

"That's what Kelly has been saying." Brett added before they fell quiet again.

"Well there's nothing we can do except wait so who wants to watch a movie?" Shay asked and Brett got up to put something in.

"Me." Brett sighed and put a movie in the dvd player.

Logan started to whine so Gabby grabbed a pacifier out of the diaper bag and handed it to Shay. "Without him I would have gone crazy without Matt." She sighed and the three laid back to watch the movie.


	54. Chapter 54

As truck 81 pulled back up to their zone Matt rubbed his eyes sleepily. When he looked up he saw that the house closest to the plant was fully engulfed and there were flames shooting out of one of the large tanks. "Okay guys, look alive." He called back to his exhausted crew.

Once he jumped out of the truck a lieutenant from the other crew ran over to him. "There was an explosion in zone 2 that ignited the tanker on the edge of this zone. We've got that you guys take the house." He said and pointed to the flaming building.

"Got it," he answered and turned to the others. "Primary search of the house is me and Hermann; Severide and Mills." Matt said looking to Kelly for approval.

Severide nodded and looked to the others, "Otis, Cruz vent the roof, everyone else set up attack lines." Kelly looked over to the other two lieutenants, "We've got this if you want to go help over at the tanks." He told them and they ran into the industrial yard.

The four men that were headed inside put on their masks and ran into the black smoke. The fire was burning hot from all of the industrial fumes circling it. Once Hermann and Casey finished their search of the top floor they walked over to the balcony where they could see Kelly and Mills below. "Clear up here!" Casey yelled.

"Get out of there guys smokes black." Cruz called through the radio.

"We gotta go this is burning too hot!" Kelly yelled back as a piece of sheetrock fell off of the ceiling that was under Matt. "Casey move, it's unstable!" He yelled but it was too late. As Casey and Hermann tried to jump back the floor gave and it collapsed bringing the majority of the outer wall and a lot of the roof down with it.

Outside the men looked on in shock at the crumbling structure coming down on the four inside. "Get another crew over here!" Cruz finally yelled. "Otis, you're with me, Newhouse, Tony follow us in with attack lines to cover us." The others put on masks as well and ran into the flaming building.

They made it to the area where the four pass alarms were screaming in different intervals but all close together. They made it over to them and for the most part Casey and Hermann were on top of the rubble. Cruz went to Hermann first and started to push the charred wood fragments and melted shingles off of his back. When Cruz shook him he quickly came to. "You okay?" Cruz asked.

"Yeah" He replied and stood up. He looked around and saw the top of a helmet that had been pushed from someone's head. Once he made it to it he started to dig and found Kelly's body below about a foot of rubble. He flipped him over and shook him in a failed attempt to wake him up. "We've got to get Severide out!" He yelled and Newhouse stepped away from the attack line and grabbed Kelly's legs.

Once they walked out the doors Severide let out a loud yelp. He started to worm around in their arms and they placed him down out on the sidewalk. He pulled off his coat and they could see open blisters on his lower back through the burnt holes in his shirt. "Severide don't touch it." Hermann said and held Kelly's wrists so he couldn't try to pull off his shirt.

By then the medics were taking care of him and the other two ran back inside. Otis had spotted another body with a large section of the trussing laying on his lower back. With three of them they were able to lift the burning wood and pull Casey out at the same time. He stood up shakily he looked around confused. "Let's get out of here Lieutenant." Otis said and half drug him through the door.

He helped Matt sit down on the curb next to Kelly and gave him a bottle of water before going back inside for Mills. Back inside they had discovered Mills under about a foot and a half of rubble and the same beam Casey was under. They carried him out and placed him on a gurney. When he didn't regain consciousness, he was loaded into an ambulance and they pushed Kelly into the passenger seat to go get his burns looked at.

By then Matt had regained enough frame of mind they didn't force him to go to the hospital. "Set up the water cannons, go defensive." Matt coughed.

The fire was starting to run out of fuel and they were able to quickly quench the flames after that. Once the house was left as a smoldering shell they went back into the industrial yard where they were spraying the tanker which was spewing flames from the pressure release valve like at the train crash. When the valve was melted shut the other crews started to lose their composure. "Any ideas?" Keith walked up to Matt and asked.

"We've seen something like this before. Guys get a hose and tie it off somewhere, just like the train crash." He ordered and the hose was quickly set up like a flamethrower, burning off all of the fuel.

A few hours later, once the blaze was starting to die down, the other shift left and left 81 to work. It was evident that the fire was starting to lose its fuel because it was slowly shrinking. Once they made it back to the firehouse they were staying at Matt and the rest of the men walked in like zombies and Matt barely made it to his bunk before he passed out.

He slept soundly for 7 hours and 40 minutes when Otis came to offer him food. As he shambled back into the kitchen and was greeted with a large plate he noticed Severide sitting at the table. "Hey, so what's the prognosis?" He asked.

"Mostly first degree burns some second and some bruising; I got some pain meds and slept at the hospital during my concussion observation." He smiled. "They didn't find anything so here I am." Kelly said holding his arms out in a grand fashion.

Matt smiled at him and sat down. "How's Mills?" He asked softly.

"Bad concussion, pulled ligament in his leg, and first degree burns on his neck." He listed off the injuries. "He'll be fine." Kelly added.

Matt sighed relieved. A little while later they were back to work on the fire that had now been cut in half in size and it finally looked like they were on the home stretch.


	55. Chapter 55

Gabby was up with her alarm at six am. She had left Logan in his room that night so she could get ready without worrying about waking him up. After she checked on him and saw he was still soundly asleep she went back to her room to get ready for her first shift back at work.

An hour later she stood at the sink brushing her teeth as she checked her phone for the millionth time. It had been nearly 24 hours since she had heard from Matt and the last thing she heard was the fire had spread. Every free moment she had she was checking her phone and trying to assure herself that if anything had happened Boden or someone would have called her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Logan softly whining through the baby monitor. Gabby quickly went to get him and once he saw his mom he stopped whining and grinned at her.

"Good morning baby boy." She said happily and lifted him out of the crib. "Are you ready for an exciting day with Grandma?" She asked energetically and changed his diaper before she took him downstairs where she already had a bottle warmed for him.

After Gabby fed Logan she changed him out of his pajamas and put him in his car seat. It was close to 7:30 now and she had to hurry to get him to her parent's house. She grabbed his heavily stocked, overnight diaper bag and her own bag before she took him out to the car and jumped in.

When she made it to the house her mom was waiting. She pulled open the door with a smile and welcomed Gabby inside. "Morning you two." She grinned.

"Morning mom," Gabby replied, "thank you so much for doing this." She sighed.

"No problem, it'll be nice having a baby around again." She smiled and gave her daughter a hug. "Have you heard from Matt?" She asked softly.

"Nope, not since yesterday morning when they got the call for the spreading fire." She sighed. "Okay so I brought everything he might need, if there aren't enough diapers just call me or you know where the key is hidden." Gabby said preparing her mom for taking care of Logan. "Call me if you need anything." She stressed.

"Gabby I raised you _and_ your brother," She said putting stress on the and, "We'll be fine." She offered her a reassuring smile and Gabby nodded.

Gabby sighed and pulled Logan out of his seat. "Be good for Grandma okay buddy." She cooed softly and pulled him into her neck. "I love you, I'll see you soon." She sniffled, a few tears coming to her eyes. This was going to be the first time she left the baby overnight and she didn't even have Matt to lean on.

"We're going to be fine." Her mom reassured her. "The first time is always the hardest." She smiled and rubbed her back.

"I better get going." Gabby sighed. She kissed the top of Logan's little head and hugged him to her before passing him off to her mom. "Call me if you need anything." She reminded her as she forced herself to leave.

"I will don't worry." She said as she watched her daughter walk out to her car. Gabby looked back as she started the car and she gave a small wave as Gabby drove away.

That morning at 51 it was quiet. With truck and squad gone and Boden working an investigation there were only the 6 engine guys and the 3 paramedics. Gabby walked in five minutes before shift started and went to go put her things away.

Once she had most of her things put away her phone started to vibrate in her pocket and she quickly answered it.

"Morning beautiful," Matt's voice came through clear and chipper. Gabby let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Hi." She finally sighed out.

"You okay?" he asked sensing the stress in her voice.

"Yeah just it's been a bad morning." She said shaking her head, "It's nothing how are you?" She asked changing the subject.

"Gabby, what's wrong?" He asked softly.

"It's just, it was hard to leave Logan with my mom and I hadn't heard from you since yesterday morning when you said the fire was spreading." She sighed.

"I'm sorry about that, we got the fire back under control but I was out as soon as we got home and didn't get up again until nearly midnight and I didn't want to wake you. Good news is the fire is starting to shrink." Matt said trying to put a happier spin on the situation.

"That's great; do you think you'll be coming home soon?" Gabby asked curiously as she wondered out of the locker room and into the sleeping quarters.

"Getting closer for sure." Matt smiled into the phone.

"Good," Gabby laughed, "a few phone calls is not good enough." She complained with a hint of humor in her voice.

"I know how you feel. I can't wait to see you, Logan, and my own bed." He laughed. "These are less comfortable than the old ones at 51." He said referring to the ratty old bunks they had up until a few years ago when the city replaced them.

"Yeah and Logan is not big enough to property cuddle up to so tell those idiots in Indianapolis to put out their own damn fires and send my man home." She laughed.

"Let me get right on that." He said sarcastically causing Gabby to laugh.

Next thing Gabby knew the bells were ringing, calling Ambo to a heart attack victim. "Looks like you're not the only one with bells disturbing their phone calls." Gabby sighed.

"Welcome back." Matt said glumly. "Be safe I love you." He said quickly.

"I love you too and back at you." She grinned as she made her way downstairs. "Bye." Gabby said quickly.

"Bye babe." He replied and ended the call.

As she came out onto the apparatus floor she saw Brett hanging up her own cell phone and hopping into the back of the rig. "Sounds like we might be getting our boys home soon." Gabby said and looked back at her in the back of the ambo.

"Hopefully," she sighed as Shay put the Ambo in drive and took off.

The girls got back to the house an hour later and had an uneventful rest of the day. At dinner Shay sat down next to Gabby and Brett followed later. "So any news on when the guys get to come home?" She asked.

"Fire is dying down according to Matt so hopefully soon." Gabby answered and Shay nodded happily.

"That's good they deserve a break." 

"Can you believe they've only been gone three days, it feels like so much longer." Brett added from across the table.

"You're telling me." Gabby chuckled. "I can't wait for them to get home and not just Matt, I've had to schedule so much extra help at Molly's since I couldn't leave Logan alone and Hermann and Otis are MIA." She shook her head as the last words rolled off her tongue sarcastically.

"That must have been extra work just piled on." Brett added, and Shay nodded in agreement.

"It definitely was." She sighed and tried to stifle a yawn. "Okay guys not to cut our conversation short but I'm going to try to get some sleep." Gabby said and stood up to take her plate into the kitchen before walking to the bunk room.

"Goodnight." Shay called after her as she disappeared down the hallway.

Gabby sat on her bed to call and check on Logan for the hundredth time before she settled down to sleep. She was only interrupted a couple of times by calls for the Ambo and one calling engine to assist at a fire in the next district over.

The next morning she walked into the kitchen and saw Sylvie standing behind the stove. "Morning." She greeted as she got a cup of coffee.

"Morning," Sylvie said back.

"What do we got here?" Gabby questioned, looking at the dish she was preparing.

"Breakfast casserole," She said as she set that and a large platter of bacon out on the counter for the hungry men sitting around the common room. "I mean Kelly will be mad when he finds out, he loves this stuff, but it just sounded good." She laughed as everyone grabbed a plate.

They were sitting around the table eating happily and talking like usual. "Brett this is amazing!" Gabby laughed. "Can you give me the recipe?"

"Sure it's easy." She smiled and took another bite. "It's just-" She started but was cut off by the sound of the garage doors coming up and the alarms going off.

_"Smoke eaters in the house!" _The voice called enthusiastically and everyone stood up from their spots at the table.

_No way. _Gabby thought as she rushed out the doors with everyone else.


	56. Chapter 56

0Gabby pushed her way out onto the apparatus floor a big grin spreading over her face as she watched the two big red fire trucks pull into their spots. There were many other smiling faces around her, everyone was happy that 81 and Squad were finally back.

Gabby's eyes were glued to the figure in the front passenger seat, the familiar build and dirty blond hair that she knew so well had to belong to Matt. He flung open his door and by the time his feet hit the concrete Gabby was halfway to him.

"Matt." She called and he turned around with a big grin on his face. He opened his arms as Gabby ran to him.

She jumped into his arms as she plowed into him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto him with a death grip. "Gabby." He sighed into her hair. Matt ran his one hand over her back and the other rested on her neck. The pressure of her weight was easy to bear and a welcome reminder he was finally home. He leaned his head down on her shoulder and kissed the side of her neck.

She sighed and untangled herself from Matt and slipped down so she was standing on the floor. She looked up into his bright blue eyes with a few happy tears brimming in her own. "I love you." She whispered and he put his hands on the side of her face and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"I love you too." He whispered back once they broke apart. The commotion around them was starting to die down and Matt wrapped his arm tight around Gabby's shoulders as they followed the others inside. On the way in they passed Kelly and Sylvie standing by the Squad and Kelly had her in a bear hug and she was laughing as he peppered her with kisses.

Half way back inside Matt shifted her so she was in front of him and he hugged her so he had her arms pinned to her sides. He nuzzled his chin into her shoulder and kissed her neck softly. "I've missed you so much." He sighed. "I hope you didn't make plans for the rest of the day, or tomorrow." He whispered seductively and nibbled on the bottom of her ear, a spot which he knew drove her crazy.

"I didn't but not to disappoint you, we do have a baby to take care of." She smiled as he pulled out and empty chair. He plopped down and pulled her onto his lap, he rested one hand on the other side of her waist and the other under her knees so there was no chance she could get down without him letting her go.

"I cannot wait to take care of that baby." He laughed. "I missed him too you know?" Matt grinned and Gabby leaned down to kiss him.

"I know," She smiled, "but lucky for us he has been sleeping through the night." She teased and ran her hand down the back of his neck.

Gabby slouched over and laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her in. Kelly was sitting in another chair with Brett on his lap in a similar position. "It's good to be home hm." Matt grinned.

"Yes it is." Kelly smiled and kissed the side of Brett's head. Shay walked behind him and playfully flicked his ear.

"Good to see you too." She said mock seriously.

"Hello Shay." Kelly grinned at her.

"Hi Kelly." She replied sarcastically, and sat down next to them.

Gabby sat up and let her eyes scan his rugged features, she was running her fingers through his hair and ended at his neck and played with the short hairs. After a couple of seconds Matt's gaze shifted from the others in the room to Gabby and their eyes met. He leaned his head into her hand and smiled lazily up at her. "I've missed you." He whispered softly.

"I missed you too." She smiled and her eyes flickered to the clock. "Fifteen minutes until we're on our own."

"I can't wait he grinned, I want to see Logan so badly." He grinned, "And I can't wait to see the rest of you." Matt teased as he whispered in her ear.

"What makes you think you're getting anything?" She teased back. "I'm going to go get my stuff so we can get out of here." Gabby said getting up slowly to ensure Matt would look at her butt.

He sat back an astonished look on his face, as if he was accepting a challenge. "You know I left my keys in my locker." He mumbled softly and stood up to follow her down the hall.

Once in the locker room Matt walked around the corner to the row where Gabby's locker was. He grabbed her waist and spun her around and pinned her to the locker with no hesitation. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck as he grabbed the side of her face and pulled her into a deep kiss.

They battled for dominance and Gabby quickly gave in and just enjoyed the taste of his soft tongue flicking across her lips. "I love you." She sighed into his mouth and he ran his hands down her back, stopping just below the soft skin on her butt, and stood up bringing her up too and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"So who isn't getting anything?" He joked as he repeated her words from earlier. Gabby didn't let him finish before she pressed her lips back to his and took control.

Before they could go too far, they heard someone from the next shift coming into the locker room. Matt quickly walked away from the lockers and slipped into one of the shower stalls. As he stepped in Gabby loosened her grip on his waist and her feet fell to the floor. She let her back fall against the wall and let out a quiet laugh.

"Well next watch is here." Matt laughed. "Let's get out of here." He smiled.

Gabby started to turn to go and grab her stuff but stopped. She turned back and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. "I really hope Logan is tired." She said biting her lip as she pulled on the collar of his shirt.

"Me too." He chuckled as she turned and went to grab her things. When she came back he met her in the bunk room and pulled her tightly into his chest which she gratefully nuzzled into.

They walked out of the house glued together and grinning. "Logan has missed you." Gabby said and looked up at him smiling.

"Yeah," He grinned back, "I missed him too; I can't wait to see him." Matt kissed the top of her head as they separated to get in Gabby's car. As soon as he was inside, Matt put his hand on her leg like he needed to feel her to know she was there.

Gabby looked over at him and saw the look in his blue eyes. It was the look of exhaustion, lust, love, and relief. She smiled at him and sighed, "I'm glad you're home. I missed you." She rubbed his hand gently.

"I love you." He said softly.

"I love you too," Gabby smiled, "Come on. There's someone else who wants to see you." She reached out and started the car before pulling onto the street to go pick Logan up from her parents house.


	57. Chapter 57

**Hello my lovely readers! I just wanted to warn you that in this chapter I will be trying something new with my portrayal of Matt and Gabby's love for each other. Based on the last chapter I'm assuming that you know what I mean. Constructive criticism is appreciated as always but know I'm not perfect and have very limited knowledge on some subjects. I hope you guys enjoy and know I still tried to keep it a little modest for what it's worth. Thank you everyone! –chill81**

After the short drive to Gabby's parent's house Matt jumped out as soon as the car stopped. He met Gabby on her side of the car and they quickly walked up to the front door because Matt was anxious to see his son.

Gabby's dad opened the door once they knocked, "Hey guys come on it!" He greeted happily. "Matt when did you get back?" He asked as they walked inside.

"About half an hour ago." He smiled as they were led into the living room where he saw Logan playing on a blanket on the floor. "Hey bud," he grinned as he knelt down and scooped the baby into his arms. He pulled him snugly into his chest. Logan was moving his little arms around and Matt shifted him so he could kiss his forehead.

Gabby came over to them and placed her hand between Matt's shoulder blades. He looked over at her and smiled as she reached out and Logan took her finger. The little boy was making soft little sounds and Matt moved one hand so he was balancing Logan on one arm and used the other to tickle his belly. Logan's eyes met his as he squealed in delight and his mouth formed into his first real toothless grin.

"Look at that smile." Matt laughed. "This kid's going to break some hearts." He joked and put his hand back under Logan.

"Yeah he is." Gabby smiled too, "He has your smile, of course he is." She joked and nudged Matt in the ribs.

He shot her an unamused look as she turned around to start gathering his things and putting them back into his bag. "How was he?" Gabby asked as he continued with the baby talk.

"He was great." Gabby's mom smiled. "He fell asleep around ten and was up just after five. He was awfully fussy and kept nuzzling this morning; he must have missed you guys."

Gabby sighed; she didn't want her son to be upset. "Did anything calm him down?" She asked softly.

"He liked the bear," her mom said as she handed it to her. "It must have smelled like you."

Gabby offered a small smile and looked back at Matt and Logan. He was obliviously snuggling his baby and Gabby's heart still raced at the sight of Matt with his son. "Well you ready to get home?" she asked Matt.

"Yeah," he smiled, "thanks for taking care of him." Matt said looking between his mother and father-in-law.

"No problem, anytime." Gabby's mom smiled as they walked to the door. "I'll see you guys later." She said as they left.

Both Matt and Gabby called goodbye back as they walked to the car. Matt put Logan down in his car seat and then climbed into his seat. "It's good to be together again." He smiled and looked at Gabby.

"Yeah," she chuckled, "are you getting all sentimental?"

"Hey I missed you two," He laughed as he pulled Gabby's lips to his before they drove home. Once they turned onto their street Matt looked back in the back seat and saw Logan nodding off to sleep. "Circle the block." He told Gabby softly.

"What?" She asked confused.

"Logan is almost asleep, circle the block." He said as he turned the radio to some soft music that Logan always fell asleep to. By the time they made it back Logan was out and Matt was able to carry him into the house without him waking. He took him upstairs and placed him in the nursery and turned on his mobile that played soft lullabies.

When he went back downstairs he found Gabby putting the bottle from last night into the dishwasher. He leaned in the door frame and admired the look of Gabby from behind, her pants hugging her hips in all of the right places.

She turned around and jumped when she saw him. "You need a bell." She joked with a laugh.

"Whatever you want." He sighed and crossed the room to her. He grabbed her hips and pulled her close to him and started to kiss her. She quickly deepened the kiss as he lifted her up and sat her on the counter. Matt started to nip at the skin on her neck and she threw her head back, enjoying the feeling of the rough stubble scratching her neck.

He was standing between her knees and Gabby kept using her leg to pull him closer to her. He moved his lips back to hers and kissed her deeply as he slid his tongue into her mouth. She moaned and her hands found the bottom of his shirt and she quickly pulled it out of his pants. She was running her hands up and down his solid chest when Matt grabbed her butt and pulled her closer into him. He untucked her shirt and wrapped his arms around her hips just below her belt. Gabby could feel his desire growing as he lifted her off of the counter.

Gabby was laughing happily as they walked down the hall and Matt pushed his lips on hers to silence her. "Can't wake the baby." He reminded her as he nudged their door open with his foot and once they were through he kicked it shut behind him.

Matt laid Gabby on the bed and crawled up with one knee on either side of her. He gradually pushed her shirt up her body and over her head. Gabby wasn't so patient though and quickly pulled Matt's off too.

He leaned back and let his eyes wonder from her black bra to the soft caramel skin on her stomach. "What?" She asked nervously. This was the first time they were having sex during the day since the baby and she was worried Matt thought she was ugly. "Ugh, sorry." She mumbled and tried to worm out from under him but he pinned her to the bed.

"You're absolutely beautiful." He sighed and started to trail soft kisses down her stomach.

"Wait," She put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back. "You think?" She asked shyly and started to bite her lip.

"Gabby, I haven't seen you in three days and I don't want you to be feeling like you look bad, at all." He turned his head so he could look into her eyes. "You are the most beautiful person in the universe and you could gain a hundred pounds and that would never change. You're it for me." He shook his head. "I love you."

Gabby stared back into his eyes then pulled his lips back to hers as she pulled at his belt buckle. Matt chuckled as he tangled his hand in Gabby's hair; she pulled his belt from the loops and dropped it to the floor. Matt started to kiss his way down her body again slowly. When he got to her jeans he unbuttoned them and slid them off. He then worked his way back up, running his hands over her smooth legs and letting his fingers dance along her panty line as he kept moving to kiss her lips.

She reached down and pushed his pants off and he stepped out of them. Gabby couldn't help but notice the bulging telltale sign of his desire for her. He groaned as his patience was beginning to run out and he needed to feel her warmth against him so unclipped her bra a pulled it from her shoulders in a hurry to get rid of the clothing. Then he moved down and hooked his fingers in her lacy thong and pulled it from her legs.

Matt was shifting on the bed and Gabby decided to flip them over. Once she was on top she pulled Matt's boxers down slowly. As she snaked her way back up to his face she let it brush against her various body parts.

He balled his fists up in the sheets as she kissed his neck. When he couldn't stand her teasing any more he flipped her back over and kissed her lips while pulling her roughly up further in the bed. He nudged her knees apart and watched as her back rose off the bed as she tensed with anticipation. Matt kissed Gabby and looked into her eyes as they relished in the feeling of being reunited. They moved in synch as they proved their love for each other as the bright morning light continued to come filtering through the thin curtains.

A little while later, Gabby was resting against Matt's chest peacefully as her eyes closed sleepily. The welcome return of his warmth and the slight smell of sweat mixed with smoke and his cologne was enough to make her want to stay in this spot forever. He was absentmindedly tracing patterns on her back as he listened to the sound of her breathing, completely content. "I love you." Gabby whispered suddenly breaking the silence.

"I love you too." He whispered as he kissed her hair and they settled back into their peaceful silence.


	58. Chapter 58

Gabby and Matt were lying in bed later that morning tangled in the sheets and nothing but happy. Gabby was curled into his side and they were both enjoying the feeling of their warm skin against the other. Matt had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and was rubbing circles on her back as she enjoyed the musky smell of his cologne.

The comfortable silence was broken by the soft whines coming through the baby monitor. Gabby groaned and started to sit up when Matt laced his hands around her stomach and pulled her back down. "I've got him." He whispered and kissed the side of her head softly before sitting up. He scooted to the edge of the bed and grabbed his boxers off of the floor.

"Whoa, wait, what's that?" Gabby asked and slid up behind him, laying her hand softly over the purple bruise from where the beam landed on him in the fire.

"It's nothing." He assured her and leaned over to give her a kiss before standing up to go get Logan. When he came back Gabby had picked his t-shirt up off of the floor and had slipped it over her head. Logan was in Matt's arms and he was still fussing as Matt sat down on the bed.

Gabby scooted back against the headboard as Matt rocked the fussy baby. "I think he's tired of us having some alone time." He chuckled and looked up at Gabby. She was watching him with a worried look on her face as she inspected the bruise on his back. He sighed, "I'm fine." He told her again.

"Well something obviously happened, so what." Matt looked at her and sighed as she held her ground. "Does this have something to do with why Mills is so beat up?"

Matt met her eyes and realized that she wasn't going to give up. "Yes." He answered hesitantly. "Fire spread to a house, no one was watching the smoke, we stepped on a weak spot in the balcony and part of the walls came down on Hermann, Mills, Severide and me." He explained as she moved closer to him and ran her fingers down his side. He was lucky it was already starting to look better and wasn't as purple and splotchy as it had been, Gabby really wouldn't have liked that.

"Does it hurt?" She asked curiously.

"Nope." He smiled as Logan's cries started again as he drew his parents attention back to him. He started to rub his face on the side of Matt's chest, "I think he wants you." Matt chuckled and handed the baby to Gabby.

"You two just don't want me to keep my clothes on do you?" She chuckled and pulled the shirt off so she could breastfeed Logan. Most of the time she used a bottle and milk she had stored but when it was easier she liked this just as much.

"I'm fine with it." He joked and scooted back against the headboard next to her and pulled her into his chest, careful of Logan. She smiled and gave him a playful shove before he grabbed her and pulled her in. Matt pulled the blankets up to his waist and placed a kiss on the side of Gabby's head.

He ran his fingers over the smooth skin on her arm as his eyes danced over the sight of Gabby and Logan that he missed so much. They were quiet for a moment before Gabby looked up at him with worry written all over her face. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked softly.

He turned his head to look straight at her, "I am fine, better than fine, I'm so happy to be home." He kissed the side of her head. Her eyes flicked up to his face and she turned so her back was pressed in to his muscular chest. Matt wrapped his arms around Gabby's stomach and under Logan and took his weight onto his arms. He kissed the top of Gabby's head and buried his face in her hair.

Just then his phone started to ring and he let out a groan before untangling his arms from around her and stretching to grab it. "Hello?" He asked with a sigh.

"Hey, I'm surprised you answered." Kelly laughed on the other end. "Figured you would still be in bed."

"Well I'm surprised you called." He responded, "What do you need?" He asked as he leaned back to his spot.

"You and Dawson in for Molly's tonight?" He asked.

"Hold on," Matt put the phone down and looked to Gabby. "Do you want to go to Molly's?"

"Who's going to watch Logan?" She whispered back.

"Christy will, Violet has been wanting to see him again." Matt told her with a smile. "Couple hours?" He questioned and she nodded her head yes. "We'll be there." Matt told Kelly before he hung up the phone. "So my mom called me a few days before I left." He started but trailed off.

"Really?" Gabby prompted surprised. "What did she want?" 

"She told me she wants to see Logan more and would watch him anytime we needed her to." Matt said quickly and felt Gabby stiffen at the thought of her mother-in-law alone with their baby. "I know how you feel about her around him and I don't blame you but what if we used this as a sort of test?"

"But if she fails said test she could endanger the life of our baby." Gabby replied quickly. Matt knew she was wary of letting his mom watch Logan because of her troubled past.

"I promise she would never do anything to purposefully hurt him I mean she raised me and look how I turned out." He said and Gabby gave him a confused look.

"Okay you're definitely not going to Grandma Casey's; we can't have you turning out like your dad." She whispered in Logan's ear as she burped him.

"I'm hurt," He said feigning mock hurt before grabbing the side of Gabby's hip where he knew she was the most ticklish.

"Okay stop!" She squealed as she wiggled around. "Give her a call I guess, but it is going to take many tests before I even think about letting her have him on shift days." She rolled her eyes once he let her go and she had regained her composure.

"Thank you." Matt smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"You're lucky I haven't seen you in forever." She chuckled as she laid Logan in his bassinette next to their bed and turned to face Matt. "I usually wouldn't have agreed to that."

She positioned herself so she was straddling his lap and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. "I'm just a lucky guy." He grinned as he matched her brilliant white smile and pulled her in for another kiss.

**Hello readers! Sorry this chapter is late and short; with starting school again things are getting busy. I wish I could make these chapters longer but this takes long enough for me to do I wouldn't be able to update as often. Thanks for reading and I love to hear your reviews! Thank you again for everything, I would be nothing without you guys! –chill81**


	59. Chapter 59

A few hours later Matt was sitting downstairs with Logan while he waited for his mom to get there. Gabby was upstairs getting ready and then they were going to head to Molly's.

There was a knock at the door and Matt went to let his mom in. She was smiling as he opened the door and she saw Matt and Logan standing there.

"Hey mom." Matt smiled as he let her walk in.

"Hi you two, it's good to see you home." She grinned and walked up to Matt and looked down in Logan. "Gosh he looks so much like you did as a baby." She smiled. "May I?"

"Sure." Matt said and handed Logan to his mom carefully. Once she had him Matt turned to the stairs and yelled up to Gabby. "Babe you ready?" He called.

"Coming." She called back as she stepped out into the landing and started down the stairs. Matt's jaw dropped open when he saw Gabby coming down the stairs in tight skinny jeans that he loved and a semi-sheer top, her hair was in soft curls and her makeup was perfect.

"Hi Nancy." She smiled as she made it to them and placed a hand on Matt's upper arm. "So do your know where everything is?" Gabby asked worriedly.

"Yes, we'll be fine." She promised. "You kids go have fun." Nancy told them as Matt opened the door for Gabby.

"Well call us if you need anything and we shouldn't be too late." Gabby called as he ushered her out the door.

"I will." Nancy called before she closed the door behind them and Gabby and Matt climbed in the truck.

Matt pulled away from the curb and headded to Molly's. When they got there he walked in with Gabby on his arm, grinning from ear to ear. A lot of 51 was already there and the party was in full swing. They walked over to two chairs across from Kelly and Brett and sat down.

"Join the party!" Kelly laughed as Hermann brought each of them a beer. Matt smiled, happy to relax and took a drink before pulling Gabby's chair closer to his and wrapping an arm around her.

Kelly had one arm draped around Brett and when she wrapped her arms around his waist he cringed. "Sorry." She apologized immediately.

"It's fine." He whispered and kissed her blond hair.

"Did you get hurt in the fire too?" Gabby asked Kelly.

Kelly looked to Matt who just nodded. "Yeah, I thought you weren't telling her?" He asked looking between Matt and Gabby.

"She saw the bruise." Matt shrugged, "figured it'd be easier to just tell her the truth."

"You were going to lie to me?" Gabby accused him hurt.

"I didn't want you to worry." He said looking down at her sympatheticly and she sighed and took a drink of her beer as he kissed the side of her head.

She looked into his blue eyes searching for any hint of anything off. When she found none her eyes danced over the rest of his face and landed on his soft pink lips. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Once he pulled away Gabby offered him a small smile and turned back to the rest of the group who had moved on to another topic.

A little while later Matt and Kelly had left to get more drinks and Shay slid into the open spot by Gabby. "You guys have fun this morning?" Shay said slowly and slurred, it was evident she had been drinking the most.

"Yes we did." Gabby said matter of factly as she downed the last of her beer and greatfully accepted the one Matt handed her.

"Ooh I love this song! Come dance with me!" Shay squealed enthusiastically.

"No way, I'm not nearly drunk enough!" Gabby laughed back and Matt slid her a shot.

"You have fun, I'll drive tonight." He smiled as she glared at him while Shay sat there obliviously pulling on Gabby's arm, trying to drag her to dance. When Gabby finally stood up Matt pinched her butt as Shay drug her away.

"Hey I think I heard Brett say she wanted to dance." Gabby said, volunteering the other girl to join them. She received a glare from the other woman as she unfolded herself from Kelly's side because she knew it was futile to argue with Shay.

While the girls were dancing and doing more shots Kelly moved to sit by Matt. "So, I'm going to get Shay to go ring shopping with me tomorrow." He grinned as he watched Brett shaking her hips to the beat of the music.

"Congratulations man." Matt smiled. "When are you going to pop the question?"

"I'm going to take her out after next shift, I got reservations at a nice restaurant, we're going to go to a few of her favorite spots and I'm going to ask her then." Kelly said at a low tone so no one else could hear.

"That sounds great man, she's going to say yes." Matt assured him.

"Yeah, I hope so." Kelly replied happily. "Man how did we get so lucky?" He wondered out loud with a huge grin on his face as he watched the girls dance and Matt did the same.

"I don't know." He mumbled as he watched Gabby shaking her hips and grinding them into Shay's hips. Matt watched with a twinge of jealousy at the sight of Gabby rubbing on Shay and wishing it was him. Later he would get his wish.

Gabby stumbled over and took a drink of his beer before turning and pressing herself into his chest. She smelled of tequila, Shay's favorite drink, and her hair was slightly disheveled from running her hands through it. "Hi." she whispered as she leaned into the space between his legs and moved her face closer to his.

"Hi," He chuckled back, "are you having fun?"

"Yeah but I could be having more." She whispered against his lips as she gave him a hot kiss.

Matt looked at his watch and saw that it was late, he knew he should take this opportunity to get Gabby out of here before she wanted to dance again. He gave her another kiss and whispered "let's get out of here." Into her lips.

After her grabbed their coats he half carried Gabby out of the bar and to the truck. He stuck her in the passenger side before climbing behind the wheel and starting the truck. On the way home Gabby slid up against him and kissed her way up and down his neck while rubbing the inside of his thigh. He tried to ignore her but it was hard until she laid her head on his shoulder and dozed off.

Once they arrived home he was able to shake her out of her sleep and help her inside before telling her to go upstairs and to bed. She obeyed and Matt walked into the living room where his mom was.

"Hey mom." He smiled when she saw him.

"Did you guys have a nice time?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Matt replied. "Gabby's tired and she already headed upstairs but thanks for this."

"It's no problem, it was nice to spend time with him." Nancy ginned, "he's upstairs sleeping." She told him.

"Thanks again mom, I'm going to head up to bed." He said as they wondered over to the door and he let her out.

"Okay goodnight, and you're more than welcome." She smiled and walked out the door.

Matt checked and Logan was sleeping peacefully in his crib like his mom said and when he made it to the bedroom Gabby was already asleep on the bed. Matt chuckled and stripped her shoes, jeans and nice shirt off before tucking her under the covers. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed in next to her happily.

Matt pulled Gabby into him and she snuggled into his chest as she drifted deeper into sleep. He sighed happy to finally sleep next to Gabby again as he fell asleep.


End file.
